Don’t.
Don’t ask me for directions
as you slowly drive by,
one of a long line
in a ribbon
of cars.
I walk
barefoot through downpour &
darkness at the road’s edge;
mud & grit & gravel scour
the tender soles
of my feet…
Ahead,
Stonehenge lifts in pale light…
I stand
at the striped carnival kiosk,
sorting paper scraps from
nickels from bright gold-
foiled chocolate coins;
unable to purchase
entrance.
You think
I know the way
forward?
I think
not.
— C.Birde, 5/22
“May your path
be strewn
with beauty – ”
she gestured,
& flowers bloomed.
“May you recognize it
as so.”
— C.Birde, 5/22
Youth’s coverlet of red
spread over green grass
sprigged with violets
Scarf of owls concealing
eyes closed against
the sun…
Inhaling
Blue Jay’s declarations
& Cardinal’s belling call
White-throated sparrow’s
soft query
& House Sparrows’
collective colloquy
Catching
Chipmunk’s mild distress
scratched & scuffled
against the downspout’s
hollow
While,
the Wind prowls overhead
like an enormous cat,
weaves in & out & through
spruce’s bristled limbs
& maples’ fern-laced leaves
& reaches d
o
w
n to pluck
the tassled, blue-gray scarf
of sheltering owls with wings
o u t s p r e a d.
— C.Birde, 5/22
“I arrive
in a flurry of petals,”
her voice sailed,
sweetly scented,
“White, pink, yellow…
given to you
on April’s
tossing breeze.”
— C.Birde, 4/22
Sunshine –
heatless word fed to
the Changeling to convey
complexity of feeling,
to sidestep
fine hairline breaks,
over Time’s span,
accumulating…
In a moment’s blaze,
the maze of eggshells
so long
& carefully cultivated,
crushed to powder
underfoot…
Each from the other
propelled in orbits
unanticipated beyond
a moniker’s bright veil
toward ashes
of that hopeful word’s
well-intentioned light
now drained of warmth,
darkly eclipsed,
extinguished,
lost.
— C.Birde, 4/22
I hear your whisper,
answer your call,
sing chorus
to your melody.
There is no
separateness.
You & I
are We.
— C.Birde, 4/22
“Describe the Mother…”
“Describe the Queen…”
Their voices overlapped,
currents on a cerebral shore,
deep blue & green in refrain.
Without hesitation, he answered:
“She stepped from the dark
hollow of a great white Tree
fully formed & radiant,
an image shimmering with
intensity – a sight to see.”
He paused to catch his breath,
then continued, surprised:
“I knew her instantly.”
— C.Birde, 4/22
“We are tied,
you & I,
“inextricably intertwined,”
her words pulsed
with Time’s unfolding,
“Your actions writ
upon my canvas.
Be wise.
Be kind.”
— C.Birde, 4/22
Head full of noise
& unrelenting image
Kaleidoscopic colors
shift, alter
Scarlet, eggplant, umber
interrupted
Bright flashes of noise,
(pop of old house bones)…
Wind caught in trees
trapped, released
to whoosh free ‘round
blunt corners
Coyotes’ not-so-distant,
mournful song
Something else,
something other
(unidentifiable)
calls…
Sleep arrives at last…
then dreamsdreamsdreams
in concussive,
hectic
tumble.
— C.Birde, 4/22
Unrestricted, vernal light
pours through bay windows’
oblique angles…
Alights in canary-yellow
flowers caught,
arranged
mid-flight at the breakfast
table’s center …
Light laps wide floorboards
of polished, honeyed oak;
wainscoted walls of ocher…
And, at last,
splashes up upon a board
in the corner of that low-
paneled wall that emits
(listen!)
a scritch-scratch-scritch
(behind, within)
of something trapped,
hidden,
concealed away
from such profuse display
of gilding…
The inset section trembles,
shivers, shifts, glides back
upon itself into the wall,
reveals a hollow space
that holds a child…
A child who, in turn, holds
a pale fluff of smallish kitten
(rabbit?)
snug against her sternum…
Who looks up, surprised,
to be rescued at long last,
released from confinement
(days, months, years?)
blinking darkness from
wide eyes.
— C.Birde, 4/22