A Finch Drinks from a Teacup by M F Drummy

It’s been many years since I’ve asked  

the idea of god to work for me.  

Like when I observed a finch drink  

from a teacup the other day  

in the neighbor’s backyard. A teacup left  

outside all winter on a table, forgotten,  

unnoticed, except by the chirping, suburban finch

who,  descending from a nearby poplar  

to perch on its weathered rim, tips her

head  up and down to reach the little

splash of  

recent rainwater on the bottom, tasting,  

for a moment, the cold sweet broth of life  

that has collected, just for her, in a floral

teacup  decorated by a young woman in

China in 1973.

A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, M F Drummy is a disabled author whose poetry has appeared in dozens of publications, including Allium, Bloodroot, Meetinghouse, Orange Rose, Penstricken, and Rattle. He has published two full-length collections of poetry: Perdido (2025, Main Street Rag Press) and Defensible Spaces (2026, Kelsay Books), which has been nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Originally from Massachusetts, he and his way cool life partner continue to enjoy their retirement in the Colorado Rockies. He can be found at https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/m_f_drummy.