Every time a Bird Grazes
A Cloud – I Write it down²
Migrating Birds teach us that
All Life follows Divine Change³
Bird are Singing the Sky into place⁴
Do you hear that Bird Warbling? That’s
The Sound of your Entry into the World⁵
Birds are always Flying about in the Sunshine
Somewhere – but they Seldom Mean anything⁶
Birds Fly into the Depths of our Existence⁷
Birds take it upon themselves to exclaim:
“Extraordinary,” and the word takes root
In the Air – and is Inhaled by Mankind⁸
You Throw me to the Crows – but
It turns out I Prefer them to you⁹
We are Birds Beak to Beak¹⁰
¹ Emily Dickinson, Out of Sight?
² Mahmoud Darwish tr. Munir Akash & Carolyn Forché, Mural
³ Bell Hooks, Appalachian Elegy 59
⁴ Joy Harjo, For Keeps
⁵ Philip Kapleau, Zen: Merging of East and West
⁶ Homer tr. Samuel Butler, The Odyssey
⁷ Tomasz Jastrun tr. Michael March & Jaroslaw Anders, The Seed
⁸ E.M. Forster, A Passage to India
⁹ Madeline Miller, Circe
¹⁰ Duoduo tr. Lee & Cayley, Wishful Thinking Is the Master of Reality