SMALL POEM FEATURING BLACKBIRDS
The astonishing light of morning, pre-lapserian,the babble of hyper-excited birds; the rest of the world
quiet, and me with my one cup of coffee, deep and black.
This light is so tender I’m afraid it might just break
as it falls on the loosestrife, cat tails, reeds— My new
apartment faces these wetlands where I’ve seen
great blue herons, smaller green ones, tree swallows
snipping the air, harvesting the wind with their sickle beaks.
And an entire regiment of red-winged blackbirds: scarlet
epaulets, gold braiding, glossy black uniforms. They whistle
up the dawn, and invite me to come on in.
~Barbara Crooker
