Walk
like water
river-spined
ocean-hipped
heart
a steady beat
within its grotto,
sheltered
each step,
each stride,
a rain-softened
footfall
arms
shore-aligned
welcoming
the full tide
of becoming…
— C.Birde, 1/23
Walk Like Water — A Poem
Author: Carrie Birde
Dis/Belief — A Poem
Reality
unfolds around us,
but we hide
our flowered heads
in denial.
Daffodils
in January…
— C.Birde, 1/23
HoliDays — A Poem
The holidays…
That spill & wash
of extremes –
everything &
nothing,
chaos &
silence,
crowds &
isolation,
bright light &
healing dark…
The holidays –
that span of time
that left me
on the far shore
of Self,
breathless,
disoriented,
& stumbling –
have past,
& I have again,
at last regained
the holiness
of my
own
steps.
— C.Birde, 1/23
Winter Blues — a Poem
Oh, falling sky – pieces of blue
tipped black & white & falling
Crying bright reply to peanuts
clacking against dark shingles
& rattling aluminum gutters,
white painted.
Jay-filled sky in blue shadows
falling toward my outstretched
hand, emptied now, but hope-
fueled.
— C.Birde, 12/22
Caged — A Dream
Uninvited,
unexpected, they arrive…
Four men – stocky & absurd,
frowning in black overcoats
& bowler hats.
Crowding into the bathroom.
Bearing, between them,
a large birdcage –
ornate wire, curled & domed.
On one perch,
a red-gold parrot;
on its twin,
a second parrot’s skeleton;
& on the cage’s floor,
a lovebird contained,
restrained,
in a cube of wire mesh.
“We done did the best we could.”
Muttering,
shuffling, the men depart as,
tumbling from its perch,
the parrot falls,
flashing red-over-gold…
The lovebird remains…
Love,
trapped —
caged within
a cage.
— C.Birde, 12/22
Winter Prelude — A Poem
The snowbirds
have returned –
those flitting,
avian shadows,
bow-tie tailed
& dapper;
flown in on
the new moon’s
dark veil
to releaf
the beeches’ bare,
uplifted boughs
in monochrome
& song.
— C.Birde, 11/22
Sparrow — A Poem
Upon
a bed of seeds,
she rests,
folded within
the blue globe’s
hollow,
cracks open
striped hulls
& eats
But,
at my approach,
a l a r m –
shell fragments
scatter
She seeks escape,
rehatches
her small self
on wings
unfurled,
stretched
o u t.
— C.Birde, 11/22
Plume… — A Poem
Plume
of light amongst
the blown seed heads
Bright
memory of self,
what is,
what was,
what again will be.
— C.Birde, 11/22
Hum — A Poem
Clouds
of bee-pricked asters
hum
while your voice –
frilled in petals
& promises –
carries
beyond the window’s
tidy panes,
weaves
through the bloom
& sway of October’s
violaceous hue
And
though I reach
for you,
this separation –
seen,
unseen –
remains.
— C.Birde, 10/22
Departure — A Poem
Run, run, run
run free,
unfettered by mortality’s
pale restraints as,
when first we met,
you ran,
Electron made flesh
in four fleet paws that,
for seventeen years,
obliged earth’s gravity
in jovial orbit.
Run, run, run
run free with yip &
click & jingle, & leave us,
dear Josie,
to the heartbreak
& surreality of your
departure.
— C.Birde, 10/22
Nightjars & Damselflies 