Bird Introductions
Today along Route one a flock of two-toned birds
flitted in a roadside patch of grass;
Their gray and black bodies rising
and falling as cars passed by.
Their thick beaks searching out
seeds it seemed in the grass.
Everywhere I go it is like this
A bird I’ve never before seen
defines a place, or an experience.
In southern Oregon it was the Towhee
In Pennsylvania the bright feathered Cardinal.
In my home place of northeastern Utah
the Sandhill Crane and the Osprey
frame the landscapes of memory
In New Jersey, the new bird was the Mocking Bird.
Some birds just appear enough in one place
to seem forever connected. All golf courses
remind me of Meadow Larks and rivers belong
to the Merganser. Route One I guess now belongs
to this two-toned bird whose picture I can’t
quite find in my National Geographic bird book.
No comments:
Post a Comment