Walk Like Water — A Poem

A photo of a white egret walking along the ocean's edge.
“Water’s Edge” — C.Birde, 1/22

Walk

  like water

    river-spined

     ocean-hipped

      heart

    a steady beat

  within its grotto,

sheltered

  each step,

    each stride,

      a rain-softened

    footfall

  arms

shore-aligned

  welcoming

    the full tide

      of becoming…

— C.Birde, 1/23

Dis/Belief — A Poem

A photo of green daffodil blade tips emerging from January's soil...
“First Daffodils” — C.Birde, 1/23

Reality

unfolds around us,

but we hide

our flowered heads

in denial.

Daffodils

in January…

— C.Birde, 1/23

HoliDays — A Poem

An abstract photograph of light and color.
“New Year’s Eve” — C.Birde, 12/22

The holidays…

That spill & wash

of extremes –

everything &

     nothing,

chaos &

     silence,

crowds &

     isolation,

bright light &

     healing dark…

The holidays –

that span of time

that left me

on the far shore

of Self,

      breathless,

     disoriented,

     & stumbling –

have past,

& I have again,

at last regained

the holiness

of my

      own

          steps.

— C.Birde, 1/23

Winter Blues — a Poem

An artfully altered photo of a Blue Jay feather.
“Blue” — C.Birde, 12/22

Oh, falling sky – pieces of blue

tipped black & white & falling

Crying bright reply to peanuts

clacking against dark shingles

& rattling aluminum gutters,

white painted.

Jay-filled sky in blue shadows

falling toward my outstretched

hand, emptied now, but hope-

          fueled.

— C.Birde, 12/22

Caged — A Dream

An artfully altered photo of an antique birdcage.
“Cage” — C.Birde, 12/22

Uninvited,

     unexpected, they arrive…

Four men – stocky & absurd,

frowning in black overcoats

& bowler hats.

Crowding into the bathroom.

Bearing, between them,

a large birdcage –

ornate wire, curled & domed.

     On one perch,

     a red-gold parrot;

     on its twin,

     a second parrot’s skeleton;

     & on the cage’s floor,

     a lovebird contained,

          restrained,

     in a cube of wire mesh.

“We done did the best we could.”

Muttering,

     shuffling, the men depart as,

tumbling from its perch,

the parrot falls,

flashing red-over-gold…

The lovebird remains…

Love,

trapped —

     caged within

     a cage.

— C.Birde, 12/22

Winter Prelude — A Poem

An artfully altered photo of a stand of beech trees, slowly dropping their leaves to reveal their structure.
“Beech Trees” — C.Birde, 11/22

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

Sparrow — A Poem

An artfully altered photo of a blue pottery bird feeder.
“Blue Globe Feeder” — C.Birde, 11/22

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

Hum — A Poem

A photo of a tumble of wiled asters.
“Asters” — C.Birde, 10/22

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

A b&w photo of our little old, ball-of-fire, doggie, sleeping in a patch of sunlight.
“Josie” — C.Birde, 10/22

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

A color photo of our little dog at six months old, on the rocky shores of Maine.
“Josie, 2006” — C.Birde, 10/22