They dip their wings in the sunset,
They dash against the air
As if to break themselves upon its stillness:
In every movement, too swift to count,
Is a revelry of indecision,
A furtive delight in trees they do not desire
And in grasses that shall not know their weight.
They hover and lean toward the meadow
With little edged cries;
......
The grackle's voice is less than mellow,
His heart is black, his eye is yellow,
He bullies more attractive birds
With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,
And should a human interfere,
Attacks that human in the rear.
I cannot help but deem the grackle
An ornithological debacle.
The stars shone so much brighter,
And it was merely one August ago,
When carefree hearts were lighter,
Before deep gold summer had to go!
The wandering birds sang a finale,
In the color splashed sunset hour,
As bare trees shivered in a valley,
And long gone is my scarlet flower!
WHEN winter's cold tempests and snows are no more,
Green meadows and brown-furrowed fields reappearing,
The fishermen hauling their shad to the shore,
And cloud-cleaving geese to the Lakes are a-steering;
When first the lone butterfly flits on the wing;
When red glow the maples, so fresh and so pleasing,
Oh then comes the blue-bird, the herald of spring!
And hails with his warblings the charms of the season.
Then loud-piping frogs make the marshes to ring;
......
I can imagine, in some otherworld
Primeval-dumb, far back
In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,
Humming-birds raced down the avenues.
Before anything had a soul,
While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,
This little bit chipped off in brilliance
And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.
......
At the pretty park, the amber sun was shining,
As I sat among the orange blooms of the June,
Berry blue sky and lake looked to be entwining,
As sunset paused, in its hued, dreamy cocoon.
Joyfully, I watched redbirds and butterflies play,
In one of life's flawless, spontaneous moments,
Myriad and lovely, coming once, and going away.
Allowing to memory hence, precious fragments.
stately tall and green
lofty trees touch turquoise sky
curved path in between
silky breeze caress
summer's on a redbird high
clouds join sunshine guild
profusion perfumes
flowers color Wednesday hours
......
Greener
cobalt skies, sun
and redbird songs we missed
when flowers are back, so fragrant
and dreamy butterflies waft in splendor
in budding days of renewal.
Emerging beautiful
awaited long,
Greener
blue moon of luster
in the middle of black night
visiting my dreams
twilight of bluebirds
as rusty Mars sails on by
sapphires are pouring
invisible blooms
their fragrance emanating
......
Fiery, sunset days of crackling autumn, such colors in trees-
birds of every hue, not to mention vibrantly, cascading leaves!
The bittersweet season's lingering, like moonlight on water.