Light — An Image

A mirrored image of a great Norway Spruce, with the sunrise glowing behind it.
“Sunrise Spruce” — C.Birde, 1/21

“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

Reservoir of Dark — An Image

A great body of water, bordered on either side by tree-lined hills, shrouded in misty darkness.
“Reservoir of Dark” — C.Birde, 1/21

“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

Photography of a leafless, winter Norway Maple.
“Norway Maple in Winter” — C.Birde, 1/21

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

A photograph of green moss growing against a red brick.
“Moss” — C.Birde, 1/21

“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

So(u)lstice — A Poem

An image of a pine-cone candle, lit and shedding beautiful light.
“So(u)lstice Flame” — C.Birde, 12/20

Longest, darkest night

Sun stopped, soul stretched,

wing-tipped in slow glide

toward Winter

Lips recite a thousand

half-recalled names of light

Hands clasp a telling dark

shot through with promise

& promise & promises

commingled in this slimmest

slip of slim hours.

— C.Birde, 12/20

Impress — An Image

A single hoof print of a whitetail deer pressed into the snow.
“Whitetail Deer Track” — C.Birde, 12/20

“Learn to read

the patterns

in the snow,”

she urged,

“& know

you are not

— nor ever were –

alone.”

— C.Birde, 12/20

Dark Descending — A Poem

A room in darkness, seen through a layer of branch's shadows from outside.
“Dark” — C.Birde, 12/20

I feel it…

the slow creep

of oblique melancholia

that seeps beneath

the skin

as daylight slips,

eclipsed by dark.

Hours dim and dwindle,

smudged from each day’s

steady transit.

Hoarded light reclines

toward torpor,

awaits eventual

rebirth,

while in the interim,

I feel –

oh so keenly –

its very

dearth.

— C.Birde, 12/20

Earth Song — A Poem

“Tourne Pool” — C.Birde, 12/20

Walk the bones

of earth exposed,

those fissures, roots

and stones –

and weep

for the beauty of it all

Our fleeting moment

in it

Our sparking union

with it,

to it

We are one

Large and small

Singular and all

Wild meadow grasses

Stream and river and

and seas’ foaming

edges

Forests, mountains, plains,

and deserts

Clothed

in a garment of light –

sun and moon and star

And remember –

All we see is all

We ever are

Walk the bones

— C.Birde, 12/20

Treasure — An Image

Close up of a pale yellow beech leaf on a mossy log.
“Treasure” — C.Birde, 11/20

“Look for me,”

her voice was sly

as a curl of leaf,

the shiver of wind,

“in unexpected places —

the hidden,

overlooked, and

small, silent spaces.

You will find me

there.”

— C.Birde, 11/20

Autumn Falls — An Image

Autumn leaves -- white oak, beech, maple -- collected in a pile.
“Fallen Leaves” — C.Birde, 11/20

“Days grow short,

& leaves fall

like rain…”

Her voice carried

in the breasts

of migratory birds.

“Yet I remain.

I remain.”

— C.Birde, 11/20