Lullaby — An Image

A close-up photograph of birds' footprints in snow.
“Lullaby” — C.Birde, 1/22

“Your small cousins

have composed

a new lullaby…”

She shifted

beneath

snowy blankets.

“Let’s sing…

Together…”

— C.Birde, 1/22

Tongues — A Poem

An artfully altered photo of a Blue Jay peering down from its perch, a peanut in its beak.
“Blue Jay” — C.Birde, 1/22

Blue Jay speaks

in voice of Crow

& Red Tail Hawk…

Vivid notes of lapis,

flinty hematite,

& earthy jasper drift

in downward mix

& tuck themselves

in ear & thoughts

of self-assessment

My own song I’ve

disguised to keep

a thorny Peace…

Once circumscribed

to silence

Fated to wither in

the nest

No More.

The words of Love

fly from my tongue

plumed, bright-

feathered,

& in full voice.

— C.Birde, 1/22

Her Dreaming — An Image

An artfully altered photo of a watery surface, rippled with motion.
“Dream” –C.Birde, 1/22

“I dream…

of deep green mosses,

ouroboros,

& bright motes

of light…”

At rest between

thresholds,

she sighed through

sleep’s keyhole.

“I dream

of

y o u.”

— C.Birde, 1/22

Perspective — A Poem

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

Hush… — An Image

An artfully altered photo of an old suburb; trees and hedge, lawn and road blanketed in snow.
“Morning Snow” — C.Birde, 1/22

“Hush, now…”

She pulled the blanket

up beneath

her chin

with a whisper.

“I’m dreaming…”

— C.Birde, 1/22

Absence — A Poem

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

Seasonal — An Image

An artfully altered photo of a fallow meadow.
“Rattlesnake Meadow, December” — C.Birde, 12/21

“I sing a new song

when the months

grow cold,”

her voice carried low

across the landscape’s

scrape & tumble,

“but tune your ear

& you will hear me

crooning

all the same…”

— C.Birde, 12/21

Yawn — An Image

An artfully altered photo of an up-sweep of bare trees, their shadows stretched toward the viewer across drifts of fallen leaves.
“Yawn” — C.Birde, 12/21

“Drift with me

through Autumn’s end,”

she sighed

& said.

“Are you not

as tired

as I?”

— C.Birde, 12/21

Starlings — A Poem

An artfully altered photo representational of a flock of birds.
“Flock” — C.Birde, 12/21

Catching light,

those flecked dark wings speak

of seasons & distance

& time’s ceaseless passing

The cycles repeat

R e p e a t i n g

Gather me

aloft in collective’s embrace

of wingbeats & banking turns

& maneuvers unspoken,

understood by the whole

In spite of all,

I stand pinned below

attentive

The cycle repeating

R e p e a t s

— C.Birde, 12/21