“Light returns!”
Her voice glittered
on the wind’s bladed edge.
“Feed your heartfire
on this everlasting
hope.”
— C.Birde, 1/21
Light & Shadow — Am Image
Month: January 2021
The Dream — A Poem
The dream was all —
beautiful
duet of soul and
psyche
sung in prismatic
tone and symbol
crooned and
understood until
I woke
it broke
The dream was all.
— C.Birde, 1/21
Just Desserts — A Dream
The gray remains
Ubiquitous
Unchallenged
Bleak winter sky,
drained of color,
extends its influence
Except…
Except for her —
Take my hand
See there, ahead?
Her once-dark-hair
now silvered violet?
Watch her cross
the intersection, see?
Pause here with me
The light,
so slow to change…!
Impatient, we cross
& follow where she leads
up streets unpeopled –
empty, too, of traffic –
her lead by swift steps
increasing until,
down an alleyway she slips
& vanishes completely.
But wait….
This shop unknown…
& there,
beyond plate glass see
her hair?
Sleek lavender strands
a-gleam through laden
wire shelves?
Shelves replete with sweets
of every kind
in Prismacolor hues –
cakes & cookies, pies,
macarons;
pink & green, fuchsia, blue.
Each sweet with care
displayed
& oh so beautiful.
Yes, of course
Take your time
Wander
Look before you choose.
But here,
this single slice of cake –
frosted white,
layers bright cerulean blue –
is mine.
— C.Birde, 1/21
Light — An Image
“You are Iight!”
Her voice sang
clear as a Winter’s night.
“Do not hide yourself
in darkness –
lend your spark
to others &,
together,
shine.”
— C.Birde, 1/21
Walking the Monochrome — A Dream
Walking…
Walking through
a monochrome sea
of time-washed
macadam
devoid of lines,
of delineations…
On and onward
Each footfall,
a pulse unheard
Tirelessly moving
through this lost
and absented place
beneath first one,
then a second
overpass pressed –
in heavy arch and
swing;
a frown, a grin –
against a watery sky
Piercing
the dull shadows
of those vulturous
crossings,
consumed by half-light…
A road ahead,
hitherto unseen,
emerging,
uncurling,
curving outward
to meet a wide,
empty highway
Seeing,
on the further curve
(that generous hip
of curb),
lawn- and folding chairs
arranged and occupied
as if to spy
some soon-to-come
parade
Recognizing one
(see? he waves?)
among their numbers
Waiting now for the
solitary car to pass,
then another,
until it’s safe
to cross and join
the small throng gathered
in a wedge of light
that sifts between
the intersecting over-
passes sweeping
past and
overhead.
— C.Birde, 1/21
Reservoir of Dark — An Image
“Sit with me
on Winter’s knee…”
Her fern-tipped
fingers brushed
my brow.
“Together,
we’ll bear witness
to Light’s rebirth,
& Hope’s.”
— C.Birde, 1/21
Winter Prayer — A Poem
Peeled away
That tousled,
tumbled veil of leaves
A verdant memory left –
like a puff of breath –
clinging
to the form beneath
Imperfection,
rough beauty, &
strength laid bare
All manifestations
exposed
Revealed —
like prayer —
by the cold,
spare,
bone-bare,
honest touch
of Winter.
— C.Birde, 1/21
Worth — An Image
“You are
no less important
than the greatest
of mountains,”
she spoke in wind &
weather,
“& no more important
than the smallest
of mosses –
each,
a world all its own,
& a treasure.”
— C.Birde, 1/21
New Year, Old Friend — A Poem
Keep at the chase,
the resplendent lights
and roar
of externalized joy
slipping –
annually,
perennially –
through grasping
fingers…
Or…
Make a friend of sorrow
Shake its hand,
learn its curves
and contours,
its bruise-blue depth
and hue
Feel its familiar weight
softly brushed
against the shoulders’
curl
There is no shame here,
in acquaintance
of this humble keeper
of memory –
only an open door
to self-knowing,
a lifetime
of understanding,
recognized.
— C.Birde, 1/21
Nightjars & Damselflies 