photography – Page 74

Tree as Artist — An Image

Tree Shadow.jpg — “Shadow of Maple” — C.Birde, 1/16

A young Japanese Red Maple casts her blue shadow upon white snow. Trees paint in shadow, each work a self-portrait laid over the Earth’s seasonal canvas.

Witness — A Poem

Hawk and Sparrow —

along the fallow edge they flew,

with wings and talons slicing

that perimeter unseen.

A dance of opposition —

capture and escape;

Unison of hearts intent

and beating.

Flash of yellow,

thrust of taloned legs —

Sparrow cries alarm.

Wings meshing,

beating earth and air.

Confusion of color —

ivory, woodland rusts and browns.

But Hawk cannot extract his prize,

cannot pull it under, out, and up

and lift away in flight.

Release is unexpected —

talons unclutch and liberate;

Sparrow streaks to ruffled safety

within the bristle of nearby hedge.

Beyond separating glass —

among fenced and netted stones

of slumbering, tongueless garden —

Nature’s urgent tug and pull

unfolds,

and I am Witness.

— C.Birde

Created with Nokia Smart Cam — “Hawk’s Calling Card” — C.Birde, 1/16

Nature photo

Snow Against Glass — An Image

Snow against glass.jpg — “Snow Against Glass” — C.Birde, 1/16

Blizzard sifts and swirls without, accumulating insistent inches. Pressing up against the windows’ panes, collected snow peers inside. We are fortunate of our warmth.

Nature photo weather writing

The Sweetgum’s cache of seed pods are heaped upon the earth in offering. Each burlike sphere contains two small seeds. Each seed retains the bright green, star-leafed memory of its parent, and all of its potential.

Nature photo trees writing

Patience — A Poem

For weeks,

the hearth was stoked

and fed.

Now,

two brands withdrawn

and lead

away

to light their

separate paths.

Cold absence

and quiet.

Wait —

patient breath upon the coals

till the embers

stir again

to flame.

— C.Birde

photo

White Ash — An Image

InstagramCapture_aee45596-163b-4702-8f03-a3f1d89091b3.jpg — “White Ash — Detail” — C.Birde, 1/16

In Greenwood Cemetery, the White Ash lifts sinuous limbs, etching the flattened plate of January sky.

Nature photo trees writing

Deja Vu — A Poem

Particled lines of light

glance through the kitchen window;

drone of radio,

and dishwasher’s chant;

unsettled kettle, so near to boil;

the knife in my hand

that snicks through kale,

ribboning leaves —

Each entwines and elevates

the sense of expectation —

They gather on the side steps,

forty-five minutes late or

two seasons early,

bearing creation and song…

Fluid time slides around me,

eddying forward and back,

and I stand motionless,

sharply aware of the slim line

separating premonition

from memory.

— C.Birde

Kitchen Window.jpg — “Kitchen Window” — C.Birde, 1/16

photo

Sycamore — An Image

WP_20160102_10_53_50_Smart (3).jpg — “Sycamore” — C.Birde, 1/16

The Sycamore’s distinctive and mottled skin is beautifully revealed once its leaves have drifted free. Often, I walk past this tree and its siblings, and have seen the trio clothed in Spring’s green and festooned with compact pom-pom seedpods. In Summer, they shed like snakes, curled sheaths of bark accumulating in the grass at their feet. But I think they might be most striking when plucked bare by Winter’s touch.

Nature photo trees writing