Orange

Artwork by Vincent Andrews

Reborn aflame, now drafting up to dance
And bawl your song at rooster ruffled dawn,
Rejecting earthly bonds, refusing rhyme,
A boast of brass to stoke the dissonance.

The drowsy rub the dust and look askance
At early light, a blend of solar mind
With ruddy brawn, in equal parts combined.
It’s only pride, you laugh, not arrogance.

‘Forgets his place,’ they murmur, ‘sings too loud.’
You greet their censure raising no complaint,
content to blaze, to take the brambled route.

Again you rise above the curdling crowd
to seek adventure, brooking no restraint,
a plunging into spurting, punctured fruit.