“I would fashion you
a cloak
of moon- &
starlight…”
Her wish –
a subtle balm –
draped ‘round
my shoulders.
“…to guide you through
this temporary
dark.”
— C.Birde, 12/20
Wish — An Image
Dark Descending — A Poem
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
Companion — A Dream
“Look out for the dog…”
Beyond any line of sight,
vanished up a lane
in this labyrinthine,
underground,
terrain,
his words echo out —
a sonic ripple stroked
against the air –
and find their mark.
Warning or instruction?
Unclear as compressed,
unspooling dark.
And then,
sudden as a ghost,
it appears –
the forewarned dog…
A great white beast,
indiscriminately splotched
in charcoal spots.
Prick eared.
Whip tailed.
Smooth fur, close-coated.
Just off the path, it waits…
Great rosy tongue, a‘lolling.
Shell-pink pale muzzle
upturned in doggy grin.
A creature far from
fearsome.
Continue in accord
through enfolding dark;
left arm slung over
the great dog’s muscled,
lambent,
milk-white shoulders;
draped across its thick neck;
until…
Until…
Furred flesh shifts and
shivers;
morphs;
transforms.
Exchanges canine shape
for human;
woman.
Tall, straight-spined;
strong, clear-eyed.
Tireless companion.
Fearsome guide.
Warrior.
Side by side,
press on as one —
together —
through the dark.
— C.Birde, 12/20
Calling — An Image
“Meet me
at the boundary
of the untamed &
half-wild…”
Her call
swept the sky
of cloud.
“Meet me
on the threshold
of dream.”
— C.Birde, 12/20
Earth Song — A Poem
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
Gray Planes — A Dream
All is gray…
Above, beneath, beyond…
Three horizontal planes
of neutral gray overlaid
one against another…
Land and sky and sea…
Blurred seams erased.
Stand here with me…
The shale, a coarse voice
beneath our feet…
The air a sigh…
Nearing our step,
the lapping edge of foam-
laced, shapeshifting sea.
(Pay that element’s
inconstant promise
little heed.)
Look instead beyond…
Into the distance…
There –
Gesture strokes the air…
A scratch of darkness
within that vast expanse…
No other form to speak
of its relative dimensions…
Undeterred,
it comes,
it grows.
A bird?
Eagle, Albatross, or Tern…
Can you discern its form?
Tell me what you see…
Patience,
patience…
Its shape defines slowly…
Slope of yellow beak…
Compact body,
smooth and white
Languid wings –
gray-stroked, stretched wide –
gently stir the space it occupies.
A gull —
Free , unfettered…
Clear-eyed perspective…
Visitant of the in-betweens.
Above the shore it hovers…
Wings beating noiselessly…
Now, its form in white neon light
outlined…
A stroke of gleaming bright,
it dives and thrusts —
into susurrating shale —
its beak,
plucks out some secret
nestled there…
Departs.
Returns
to those very planes of gray
from which
it came.
— C.Birde, 11/20
Treasure — An Image
“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
MindChatter — A Dream
— C.Birde, 11/20
Autumn Falls — An Image
“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
You — A Poem
The earth wears gilt
Thy sky runs pewter blue
And I…
I think of you
My bones catch the whiff
of Winter and
rattle in their frame
And all my thoughts
my hopes
of future warmth —
like migratory birds —
return always
to you.
— C.Birde, 11/20