hope

Walk Like Water — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
A photo of a white egret walking along the ocean's edge.
“Water’s Edge” — C.Birde, 1/22

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

Winter Blues — a Poem

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
An artfully altered photo of a Blue Jay feather.
“Blue” — C.Birde, 12/22

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

Wood Thrush Wood — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / 2 Comments
A photo of an earthen track through a woodland in mid-spring ...
“Wood Thrush Wood” — C.Birde, 6/22

Hands clasped

& pressed

to breast-

bones,

we stood –

enraptured –

as Wood Thrush

dropped

each liquid note

down through

the trees’ canopy –

like hope,

like light –

then alit

upon the path

before us

& took

his unassuming

bow.

— C.Birde, 6/22

Wisdom — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
An artfully altered photo of a Garter Snake moving through the leafmold along the forest floor.
“Garter Snake” — C.Birde, 5/22

Four snakes –

Slim black

          ribbons

of tongue-

flicking,

flexible life

          scrawled

across my path:

Four compass

          points

of blessing

Four strokes

          of wisdom

Four opportun-

ities to shed

          my skin

& begin

          again.

— C.Birde, 5/22

Perspective — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / Leave a comment
An artfully altered photo of a spider's web, pearled with raindrops, against a background of wood & water.
“Web” — A.Schnitzler, 12/21

Distance reveals

the web’s complexity

of form –

those anchors of support,

the strands that spiral

in & down;

Grants the space to see

the pattern of the weave –

the warp & weft of whys,

wherefores that catch

upon proximity.

Grateful of perspective –

room to feel & breathe;

Anxiety of being held

forever fixed in place,

subtracted.

— C.Birde, 1/22

Absence — A Poem

/ Carrie Birde / 2 Comments
An artfully altered photo -- mirror image -- of a tree, with limbs linking.
“Mirror Maple” — C.Birde, 1/22

Trees,

dark-stroked

against a sky obscured

& damply blotted,

lift expectant limbs…

Bare

Exposed

Stripped

to elemental truth.

I stand beneath…

In search of self

& soul

& all that’s sacred

amongst knotted roots

& last’s year’s fallen

leaves.

— C.Birde, 1/22