writing – Page 4 – Carrie Birde

Dorr Mountain — A Poem

Dorr Mountain, Acadia 2018.jpg — “Dorr Mountain” — C.Birde, 10/10

Be strong. Be steady. Be alert. In body, mind, and spirit.

Embody the mountain. Dorr Mountain. Acadia.

Kurt Diederich’s Climb, elder among trails,

shaped with the Park’s founding –

a series of steps and stairs cut from the mountain itself,

connected by packed earth trails

that track those slopes and edges.

The strength of purpose,

the steadiness of planning

required to create such possibility;

the alertness necessary to climb those stairs…

when I want only to look at everything…

everything…

from each angle and every curve, ascending, descending…

trees, ferns, moss, and smooth blush-shouldered stones;

each creature that creeps, leaps, flits, soars;

the great, vast, all-embracing sea-blue sky;

when I want only to inhale everything…

everything…

the clean damp smell of earth and leaf and pine

through every sense and pore.

All surrounding – strength, steadiness, alertness;

this great protruding hip of enduring earth.

A fragment, I move through its peripheries,

through its unquestionable midst…

a flawed splinter of purpose.

And yet, and yet…

here, I am fearless…here I forget…

that the world always (always) seems

bigger, stronger, louder, crueler…

here, I forget the shouts and anger that strips away

convictions, small and large, until I doubt…

Here, I am fearless; here, I don’t hide…

My face mirrors light.

Be strong. Be steady. Be alert. In body, mind, and spirit.

Hold on to that mountain.

— C.Birde, 10/10

Nature writing

Caught within the tangle of scratching, leafless forsythias at the road’s edge — that pale, packed strip of gravel, bending, bow-like and away left and right. Beyond the road’s farther edge, where the intrusion of gravel gives way to tumbled brown earth; beyond the earth’s gradual slope and the slim, young trees arranged haphazardly over that gentle declination — a ribbon of glittering blue, a deep lake of still water, its surface stirred by breeze. They have already crossed, slipped through the trees, their hands tracing those slender trunks as they passed, headed for the water, out of sight.

Watching, caught within the forsythias’ whip-wand embrace. Bending forward, doubled over at the waist. Shaking head and hair — gently. The toads tumble earthward, dozens of small dull brown toads shaken gratefully free of entangling hair. Watching them hop and scatter in all directions.

Laughing.

Laughing.

— C. Birde, 10/18

Bluster — An Image

Regardless of direction,

of source,

or intention,

the bluster

effects

us

.

all.

— C.Birde, 10/18

Autumn Nature writing

Moon Song — A Poem

Horsetail bamboo.png — “Horsetail Bamboo” — C.Birde, 10/18

Sing —

singly,

in union;

Tooth-edged wings

scraping,

bending,

bowing

in praise —

each night —

of the moon’s

ever-

shifting

aspect.

— C.Birde, 10/18

animals Autumn Nature writing

Shelter — An Image

Together

we sheltered

within the great cap’s

shadow,

leaned against

the smooth

columnar trunk —

shoulder-to-

shoulder,

wing-blade to

wing.

We collected

the drift

of fallen spores

and made

magic.

— C.Birde, 10/18

dreams Nature writing

Last Day of Summer — An Image

Screenshot_2018-09-21-10-32-31~2.png — “Joe Pye Weed” — C.Birde, 9/18

He wore the light

of the last day

of Summer

— in his hair —

like a

crown

ablaze.

— C.Birde, 9/18

flowers Light Nature writing

Constant — A Poem

Change

if you must

exchange your

limits —

imposed,

self-fashioned —

for broader

space.

Ivy embraces

the picket fence

and moss creeps

over stone.

Slow patter of rain

carves its own

sweet route.

Change

if you must,

if you wish.

But never forget —

small as I am —

that I have always

loved you.

— C.Birde, 9/18

Nature writing

Three, Unbound — A Dream

20180301_170128_HDR~2.jpg — “Wall” — C.Birde, 9/18

The three women stand – barefoot, shoulder-to-shoulder – before a mammoth, trapezoidal wall, a plaster expanse the deep, teal-blue of an undisturbed lagoon. Their hair tumbles, unrestrained, about their shoulders, cascades over the night-sky robes skimming their bodies. Arms uplifted, the sleeves of their robes slipping past their elbows, past their smooth forearms and biceps, they press, press, press their palms against the wall, against their own cast shadows. When, smiling, they tip their heads back, their laughter is fluid, effortless joy — the sound of blackbirds released into an unbound sky.

— C.Birde, 9/18

dreams writing

Wonder — An Image

Screenshot_2018-09-14-08-02-45~2.png — “Wonder” — C.Birde, 9/19

May our hearts and minds

remain open,

our arms outstretched,

and our eyes

forever

wide with wonder.

— C.Birde, 9/18

writing

Elusion — A Poem

Screenshot_2018-09-12-10-06-40~2.png — “Elusion” — C.Birde, 9/19

Sleep,

interrupted —

conducive

neither to rest

nor dreams.

Ache of hips and

— roll over —

shoulders

— back —

Eyes tight-squeezed.

Tongue pressed

to teeth

in a jaw ill-

fit.

Beyond

the blanket’s heap,

time’s passage,

marked in increments

blue and ghostly.

Words and worries

and…song

— unbidden —

crowd

in looping chorus

— repeat —

— repeat —

Until sleep becomes

the dream.

— C.Birde, 9/19

writing