A book to read in fall
September 14, 2011 § Leave a comment
A slim little paperback of 20 poems by Robert Bly, one of my beloved Minnesota poets: The Urge to Travel Long Distances.
The geese in flight reminded me of the cover of this book, a book I dig out this time of year for a good re-read. Here are poems to enjoy by the season’s first fires, with mugs of cider in your hands.
In the Bur Oak
July 21, 2011 § Leave a comment
I was lying on my back on the bench
of the picnic table, for fifteen minutes
of lunch and blessed shade between work.
.
Above me, in the branches of the bur oak,
a little black-and-white bird also positioned
himself upside down. He had quite the grip
.
with those little feet as he skittered along
the bottom of one limb. I thought at first
he was some wild sort of squirrel-creature
.
but then up along the side he went, his head
well-shaped, movements quick and attentive,
wings folded behind his back. I don’t know why,
.
but it made me laugh, this bird in the tree moving
along without flight, with some kind of purposeful
hurry, unperturbed as I peered into his aerial home.
Kinds of Honey 