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
Winter Prelude — A Poem
Truth
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
Little Dog Walks — A Poem
Near
the stop sign’s
scarlet flare,
our feet
in a depth
of green,
green
grass
Patient –
sensing,
feeling,
recollect-
ing steps –
we stand
& wait for
the sweep
of Autumn’s
mournful
wings
to p a s s.
— C.Birde, 9/22
Crickets’ Song — A Poem
I could sleep
away the season’s end,
head upon this pillow
of bronze ferns
& oak leaves turned
the color of doeskin,
Cheek pressed
to this still-green bed
of moss as you sing
against my ear
Please, let me remain
undisturbed until
the heat has passed
Though this means
I must wait
another year to hear
your song.
— C.Birde, 9/22
Glove — A Dream
I wore,
on my right hand,
a glove of cicadas –
glittering,
shimmering,
whirring in patterns
improbable…
A glove of dialogue,
& movement,
& transformation
undeniable…
And when I tried
to release my hand,
my fingers,
of those shrill insects,
they clicked
& chittered
& shifted
& sang;
with buzzing intent,
they bit
& stung;
endured as one;
would not be
shaken off or free,
denied or dislodged,
but rather would
r e m a i n.
— C.Birde, 8/22
Endless — A Poem
Overhead,
the Dog Star pants
& prowls a sky stretched
blue & rainless,
casts unhurried shadows
upon once-green grasses
stitched through
with summer’s leonine heat
turned rasping,
wheaten.
— C.Birde, 8/22
Traffic — A Dream
No matter
that I have no map,
no navigation system…
that the warp & weft
of intersecting highways
remains incomprehensible,
& the frantic push & pull
of traffic sweeps me along
with tidal force…
that strobes of light –
red & white & cautionary
yellow –
stream past in a confusion
of glancing blurs
reflecting off windshields,
steel-gray paneled bodies,
side- & rearview mirrors
dim with rain & half-light…
No matter.
I have foreseen
my arrival,
all the same.
Woodlawn,
I am coming.
— C.Birde, 8/22
Nightjars & Damselflies 