Crocus Heart — A Poem

Photo of a woman's shadow cast upon a bed of autumn leaves and new spring growth, with a purple crocus blooming where the shadow's heart would be.
“Crocus Heart” — C.Birde, 3/21

Crocus heart,

abloom

with the pulse

of Spring’s

footfall,

renewed.

Never cease

to beat

in this constricted

frame of thought

& sinew –

remain.

Always remain.

Forever wash

my gaze

in your vernal,

violet hue.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Assignment, Cake — A Dream

At atmospheric photo of leafless trees at night crowding around a pool of yellow light.
“Atmosphere” — C.Birde, 3/21

Sent out…

away from this

bright impersonal

space

with all its

glittering crosstalk

& hectic motion…

Cast out…

into umbrous night

& with an errand tasked:

return with cake…

Pavement,

heaved & crack’d & bound

around in encroaching,

tangled trees that bow

& rub together limbs

all but leafless…

And,

at the farthest end –

near swallowed up

in starless scrub –

a structure…

O, architectural wonder!

Entirely comprised

of swoops

     & swirls

          & curves

of hammered metal

sheets symmetrically

arranged to either side

of a single, central

door…

And,

above this fabulous

entry’s lintel –

nested amidst curls &

intersecting twines

of metal –

an enormous lemon,

all aglow in halo

of soft yellow

light…

Indeed,

the only light to move

or chase throughout

the whole benighted

place.

But,

nowhere,

anywhere at all,

a single frosted piece

of cake

in sight.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Maple Dryad — An Image

A photo of a leafless maple tree in a marsh.
“Maple Dryad” — C.Birde, 3/21

“I am light –“

she spoke

in scintillating

spectrum,

“drape me

about your shoulders.

I am rain & fog & snow —

quench your thirst.

I am wind —

hear me.

Together,

we are

whole.”

— C.Birde, 3/21

Streaming — A Poem

An augmented photo of a stream coursing past mossy stones.
“Stream” — C.Birde, 3/21

Dig

Dig in

Digging

     deep

The damp

     pools

          seeps

     through

shifted

     soil

Layers

of earthen

garment

     moved

Break

     through

The silver

     stream

          below,

     nested in

a sandy

     bed

of intuition,

courses,

un

     re

          strain

ed,

like a vein

     of song.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Welcome — An Image

A close-up photo of crocuses in bloom.
“Crocuses” — C.Birde, 3/21

With the weight

of Winter

& the recent year

still present,

she says:

“Look —

I bring you

crocuses…”

— C.Birde, 3/21

Crows — A Poem

A close-up photo of a Crow feather.
“Crow Feather” — C.Birde, 3/21

Thought &

memory –

circle

      circle

Enfold

me in your

soot-dark

wings

Inscribe

my heart

in quick

ink-quill

scrawl &

claw as

yours

again

     again

For in this

isolation,

I have

learned

to love

the glossy

sound of

your voice

winging

through

me.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Construct — A Dream

An image of the interior scaffold structure of a huge greenhouse.
“Scaffold” — C.Birde, 3/21

The boy has died.

One third

her not yet twenty

years.

     Intolerable.

     Unbearable.

Here:

within this rough

underground womb

of dull-winking

hematite,

through the crucible

of her direction,

the memorial

is constructed.

She oversees

the smooth stage’s

raising;

the steel frame’s

enclosure struck

with lights;

white screens,

like windless sails,

unfurled.

His image –

     luminous,

     aflare –

will transcend

the dark &

breach the void.

The boy has died.

She wears the burden

of his absence

with fury –

raw-edged &

     bristling.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Pierce — An Image

An augmented photo of daffodils' blades thrusting through soil against a white fence... Only the daffodils are in color.
“Daffodil Blades” — C.Birde, 3/21

“I will pierce

the rimed earth’s

slumbering crust…”

Blades

of green daffodils

chased

with her voice.

“I will pierce it

— like Eros —

with love…”

— C.Birde, 3/21

Passage — A Poem

Photo of an old White Oak, looking upward through its leafless winter limbs.
“White Oak” — C.Birde, 3/21

Cold wind

full of Winter’s

coarse & paling breath;

that, in slow retreat,

rattles trees’

pre-bud leafless

limbs…

Pass through

this insubstantial form

like

     song.

— C.Birde, 3/21

Shred — A Dream

Photograph of shredded bits of newspaper piled in a heap.
“Shred” — C.Birde, 3/1

World

of black & white

entirely comprised

of newspaper

torn to bits,

shredded & strewn

over the landscape,

covering trees &

earth & every little

growing thing

as far as the eye

can see.

An

earth-formed sea

of black & white –

delineated,

bisected,

by a raised ridge

of torn words &

images pressed

into a pastiche

spine.

Carefully

tread this crude

catwalk

gangplank

promenade

balance beam.

Follow one

behind the other

‘til from behind

a copse of print-

wrapped trees

a she moose looms,

protective of her

calf…

Veer off

the path & wade

through the swamp

of printed words

that tugs

at boot & stride.

See there,

within the shred

of black & white,

the doe at rest,

& tucked within

her body’s curve,

a solitary small

& spotted

fawn.

— C.Birde, 3/1