Thursday, April 21, 2022

At the Bird Feeder

 


AT THE BIRD FEEDER

I am the cardinal who flashes bright red.
I am the junco who wears a gray coat.
I am the wren who sings from the fence
with a body so small and a voice so immense.

I am the hawk who swoops overhead.
I am the crow who caws an alarm.
I am the silence – all have dispensed
till the robin comes back and breaks the suspense.

I am the cardinal who again flashes red.
I am the junco who fluffs his gray coat.
I am the wren back atop of the fence
with a body so small and a voice so immense.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2022



I saw a quote from Lisa Congdon on IG yesterday:
"Be a joy monger."
Delving deeply into the realities of the climate crises has severely depleted my stores of joy and optimism. But yesterday was a rare day without rain (one of our local climate changes is more frequent and more extreme rainfall) and it looks like perhaps we've had the last freeze. So out to the garden I went for some joy mongering. I cleared the beds of last fall's oak leaves and looked for hidden signs of spring. My notebook lay open on the porch, and is now full of joy, and smudged with mud and notes for future poems.

Section 6 in ALL WE CAN SAVE is all about the emotional and psychological toll of the climate crisis and its work.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a marvelous joy monger to me, Mary Lee. I am going out early now for a brief moment because the robins are back for our wake-up call! I miss seeing cardinals, bright & "cheer" y, right? Love your POV!

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