<= 2009.04.03

2009.04.07 =>

Hot sun on the decaying porch steps. A cold breeze makes itself known for a moment, then halts, silent potential.

A tiny black-capped goldfinch appeared in the rosemary bush and hopped around for a while. Can birds live by rosemary alone? This one was trying. Amazing how far it could stretch its neck to grab a sprig in the blunt little beak; then another hop and flutter, balancing weightlessness. It flew away when I stood.

It’s always the same poems that come into my head with tiny birds. Blake:

And Father, how can I love you
Or any of my brothers more?
I love you like the little bird
That picks up crumbs around the door.

And Merwin’s Mandelstam:

Goldfinch, do you know you’re a goldfinch,
do you know how much?

How Mandelstam himself said “goldfinch” I don’t know. What sounds the bird might have answered to.

 

<= 2009.04.03

2009.04.07 =>

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