if I had  only heard you call
sweet bird
chirp when I was noticing
when I had senses
those days long ago

now I sit and watch on the perch
a mute Mockingbird
a woodpecker with a sore bill
a Robin with no robin hood

a sparrow alone on a  limb
talking to himself
a  leaf waving in the breeze
and always the songs remembrances
softly haunting

At night the bird flew,
Over oceans of trees
Past hills and mountains
Swept by the breeze

He sang an odd song
As he soared through the sky
He woke up the moon
As he passed it by

To where he was headed
The bird did not know
He just knew to sing
When the stars hung low

But the moon knew well
That old avian's course
To sow strange dreams
Without time or source

The moon recalled
When the bird once knew
Of his place in the heavens
Where light once grew

But now the bird simply flies
And sings its strange tune
Through oceans of night
Under the sleeping moon

1588

This Me—that walks and works—must die,
Some fair or stormy Day,
Adversity if it may be
Or wild prosperity
The Rumor’s Gate was shut so tight
Before my mind was born
Not even a Prognostic’s push
Can make a Dent thereon—

They sent him back to her. The letter came
Saying… And she could have him. And before
She could be sure there was no hidden ill
Under the formal writing, he was in her sight,
Living. They gave him back to her alive
How else? They are not known to send the dead
And not disfigured visibly. His face?
His hands? She had to look, and ask,
“What was it, dear?” And she had given all
And still she had all they had they the lucky!
Wasn’t she glad now? Everything seemed won,
And all the rest for them permissible ease.
She had to ask, “What was it, dear?”

“Enough,”
Yet not enough. A bullet through and through,
High in the breast. Nothing but what good care
And medicine and rest, and you a week,
Can cure me of to go again.” The same
Grim giving to do over for them both.
She dared no more than ask him with her eyes
How was it with him for a second trial.
And with his eyes he asked her not to ask.
They had given him back to her, but not to keep.

this poem
is not about you

even though
your spirit is in every word
your voice sounds strong
in the halls of my mind
telling me things
I am now sure
I want to know

this poem is
about me

trying to understand
you

As the days passed,
I grew to be wise,
But the sun shine became dim,
and the rain fall --light.
I felt my petals crumble,
and my stem begin to wilt,
I let pieces of me fall,
Now I look back and wish,
That I'd never been a seed,
only to grow old and tired.
I once was a beautiful flower,
Until my petals died.