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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

SOMETHING SPRINGS ETERNAL

The orange cat is
back
on warm spring days
like this one
she camps beneath
my backyard bird feeder
and looks up
longingly
with hope
or expectation
I can’t tell which

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

WHEN THE CALL COMES

When the call comes
you will hear yourself say
what people say at such times:
"her suffering is over now"
"he always said he wanted to go with his boots on"
"she lived a good life"
and part of you,
most of you,
believes it.

But the rest of you
wants to carry
protest signs
around God’s headquarters
and chant slogans
of indignation
and rage.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

MY NEXT POEM

My next poem will be
an instant classic.
Published in Atlantic Monthly,
intemperately hailed by critics,
it will be lauded
for its honesty and wit,
its winsome insouciance.
It will be described as
"bold and bright"
maybe even as
"a proverbial gem of purest ray serene."

Not this one, of course.
The next one.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

BIRD COUNT

If you’ve never gone out to the woods with
a bunch of bird watchers
you should
not so much to watch the birds
as to watch the watchers
who incidentally prefer
the term "birders"
don’t ask me why
also don’t ask me why
they get more excited
spotting a Swainson’s thrush
than a baseball fan does
when it’s two outs
bases loaded
and three and two on the batter
and as far as I know
birders are the only people
who when they use the term
"lifer" are not referring
to someone who is in jail till
he dies but to a new bird
to add to their lifetime list.

So . . .
how many are on yours?
I’m up to 68.