THE CROCUS
Loud crows and bright robins
promise an early spring
But they are of the sky
and can be easily fooled
Only the crocus
knows
Tag Archives: Birds
BLIND ROOSTER
BLIND ROOSTER
Afraid of missing daybreak
crows all night
A DEBBIE MOMENT
A DEBBIE MOMENT
I was noticing again the other day
watching a movie, strangely enough
called “Remains of the Day”
that even though you died
you haven’t gone away
In the movie
a bird gets trapped in the house
and tries to fly
through the high ceiling glass
Remember the time in the office in Austin
when the sparrow was trying in panic to
escape in this way
You spoke to it in your stardust voice
and it landed in trust in your hand
I remember the windows you flew against
and your trust so light in my hands
And it’s a comfort to see
you and the sparrow
both flying free
BARN SWALLOWS
BARN SWALLOWS
They swoop
from beneath the eaves
Carving
an invitation
to the big red ship
Come slip your moorings
and follow us across the sea
ROBIN
ROBIN
Robin is a pelican
she flies with perfect grace
swims with perfect grace
moves with perfect grace
Pelicans swim with Robin as a sister
pelicans are very old and wise
they know a pelican
can be a beautiful woman
Humans are not so wise
but there is a way to know
if a beautiful woman is a pelican
Robin is a pelican
when she opens to feed you
you can taste her heart
PELICAN PROJECT SALUTE
PELICAN PROJECT SALUTE
You are the pelican warriors
You are the pelicans who do not run away
you are the pelicans that stay and fight
you are the pelicans that defend your nests
you are the pelicans that defend your tribe
You are the pelicans
who fly from your homes to find a new lake
You are the pelicans
brave enough to fly near people
(it can be dangerous to fly near people)
You are the pelicans
brave enough to fly through your fears
You are the pelicans
who know some people are your friends
who know some people need your gifts
You are the pelicans
who teach pelicans and people
how to care for their young
how to live for their tribe
How to fly and dance and swim
and fish together again
I dip my ink tipped wing
in praise of you
I AM A PELICAN
I AM A PELICAN
I have flown over the dinosaurs dying
through the ash of the meteors crashing
I have swam in the ice floes melting
I have eaten the first fish walking
I have felt the poles a shifting
in the magnets in my head
I have seen the white man and the red
I have seen the old wives dead
I have felt the pull of the settlers need
and tasted the poisons of their greed
I have heard the earth a groaning
I have felt the earth in pain
I have seen the Rainbow Warriors
dance the vision back again
And I fly and swim and wait
and pray they’re not too late
CANDLE LAKE 2000
CANDLE LAKE 2000
Five in the morning
Wind shakes northern cabin
rain rattles roof and window
Plaintive loons cry and try
to lift the hidden sun
DODO BIRD
DODO BIRD
The Dodo bird used to live on
Mauritius island in the Indian Ocean
just a little bit east of the African coast
Being too big and dumb
to move fast, hide well, or taste bad
the Dodo did not survive human contact
Shortly after the Dodo became extinct
all the large beautiful trees on the island
were seen to be heading for extinction as well
You see the trees dropped their nuts
and the Dodo birds ate those nuts
and they digested those nuts
and fertilized those nuts
And they dropped those nuts
and only then could they germinate
and grow into those big beautiful trees
And those trees were the only homes
for hundreds of kinds of birds and bugs
and moss and a thousand living things
The world is a grain of sand you know
and sometimes that whole world can depend
on the shit of a Dodo
SEEDS
SEEDS
(or Austin International Poetry Festival)
Birds seed lakes
flying with fish roe
between each muddy toe
Spiking
each pond with pike
and smaller fish that pike like
The poets from England were here last year
including Jay, and bearded imp John Row
carrying seeds between each muddy toe