Bird Omens
by Alan Harris

I envy your rapport
with all the birds.
When you go for a walk
in your nearby forest,
you see pairs of cardinals
and thrill to their singing.

One time you overheard
two owls conversing
between bare trees.

In summer you have
stared breathless
at a heron standing
Samadhi-like
beside your lake.

Birds of beauty
want to be near you.
Your heart flies up
with these fliers
and knows into
their knowing.

Today as I walked
across an open field,
hundreds of crows
flew overhead,
snidely cawing
from confusing clouds
of cacophony.

After they were gone,
I walked on in silence
and knew nothing.



 

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