Bye bye Blackbird

Last spring the laurel hedge by my window was empty
No chirruping, calling, no rustling of glossy leaves
No fledglings edging off the nest onto twigs and then the adjacent fence
No wobbling and frantic flapping as parents patiently cajole
No triumphant flights to the Rose bushes
Only to tumble to the grass
As the chosen twig was too thin

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Eyewitness

My laps for exercise were done,
So I let the water hold me,
Felt the rise and fall as breathing
Filled and emptied out my airways.

Conscience tried in vain to scold me,
For I would not idle linger,
But a moment only savor
All to me the world bequeathing.

UNTRAINED VOCALISTS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

The Birds Sing

Their Songs At Sunrise

Abbreviated Haiku #1

excited
chatter above me—
treetop songs

HAIKU: FEATHERED FRIEND SYMPHONY

By Charles Robert Lindholm

IF THERE WERE NO BIRDS

You’ll Never Be Alone (for Bobby)

Son
Today with oil, water and breath
I watched the priest
Open the soul of a boy
To God.

As
Mine
Was
A long time ago
And many sins past.

Flight

Oh to slip into the sky, to soar and dance and tumble
Murmurate, swoop and stoop
Twisting twining the wind to my joy

This Afternoon in My Garden

Small brown birds

busily pecking up

tiny seeds from the sand –

they do not let up,

Matins

.

Whispers in the mists of morn

Sing Lilting Praise

Upon the wind are bourn

Rapturous glimmers of refracting gold

hush chills

the leaves twist their fingers
telling the wind to hush
as it prattles on, rushing across
the necks of rivers, slithering up
the spines of bridges, biting

Sanctuary Tree

The poet Rumi advises us to find a place
high in a nearby tree to hide our spirit.
It is so easily bruised and, when damaged,
we cannot hear what it has to teach.
I read this and had a question–
why did I wait so long to do the work

Oh Rain!

Heavy rain pours in the morn of two to four,

Warm air lifting the clouds dropped the temperature.

Drip drop drip drop on the roof,

Sounded like a hypnotizing sooth.

Woke up to fresh misty air,

Hastily made a visit to my garden,

Local Lake

Daily walk around the lake,

Mindset changed instantly.

Worry free ducks floating,

Soft birds’ chirping;

Hummingbird

Tanka Poem

Tiny hummingbird,

Wings flapping, in air sustains.

Flying up and down,

The Roller

She is color, speed, and song.
Her appearance, an oasis
Of the eye.
A wunderkind, a rapture,
Were she mineral
She be as wulfenite.
A caress of spring flowering and
Young life, beauteous and beguiling.

Birds

Thoughts, they come
In plumes of green and blue
Thoughts, they squeal
In voices shrill, in songs sweet
Thoughts, they touch
Whispers soft, scratches hard
Thoughts, they hold
Moments of wonder, pauses sad

Big Hawk and Little Bird

Big Hawk and Little Bird

I stopped to watch a majestic hawk circle a tree

Which stood fifty feet in front of me

Then something tiny caught my eye

A flash of feathers streaked through the sky.

His wings beat so fast they blurred

As he flew into the larger bird

That was at least four times the size

Of that frantic little guy.

The Deepest Parts of Me

Flowers say

To hummingbirds and bees,

“Come caress

The deepest parts of me.

Hungry Birds – haiku

 

Turns out people aren’t the only ones who like to eat.

Heights

We are birds, in flight
On varying heights
Inevitable

You see clouds
I do not

Look At These Words

look at these words
living as free birds
flying off the page
across time and age

Flight: Nonet.

If we could fly away together, you and me,
and take our needed rest at a sailing
ship, & find fish to eat for dinner;
if we could share each other

Soul Music

There once was a soul music everyone heard

sung by the rivers, the wind and the birds.

Keeping the beat were the earth and the sun,

warming our hearts with the sound of the drum.

That soul music plays still

within you and me,

but when do we listen?

It’s silent you see.

Trapped

Trapped

Acceptance just flew away.

Accompanied two magpies as
they took off over gardens,
into distant fields now green again,
able to breath from welcome thaw.

Two in the bush–two haiku

Snowy diamonds
Beneath bare winter branches
Small birds twittering

Feather Friend

Spring Choice

A feathered friend of mine

Perched, in search of a place

For the time so near

Her young ones from a shell to appear.

Her mate waits watching her in pain

For the love they share to go in vain.

Three haiku

Hummingbird supping
Green wings beat so quickly that
He appears a blur

Haiku

Flock of flapping wings

delirious song of joy

such optimism