Joshua Baker
Bird Lessons in Triplicate
1. Crow Wings
The sidewalk curves along, above Johnson Creek
Reflects a gray view universe
I walk slowly, camera skull slung
In search of light, a shot, a flash of magic
Anything to elevate perspective
At the skyline, a visual tickle
A dozen black specks in retreat
crows heading north by northwest
Pulling clouds, cultivating mystery
no wheeling about, no walnut drops from power lines
no staring, no hop-walking towards trash
Instead, a focused exodus
I wonder what they know, what they left behind
The corpse of a fallen sister in the sidewalk median
A game that took a wrong turn.
Water tainted by oily runoff
I hear sirens in the wind
Imagined dirge for the dark departed
2. Heron Tail
I tilt towards the day’s work while rolling
Clouds gloom-stack the horizon
Even as musculoskeletal aches
become an invasive species
Distraction descends in the flap and swoop of massive wings
A dinosaur from the left corner of sky world
Aberration above tire stores, pawn shops, coffee kiosks
As it shifts course, the bird's tail in profile becomes a handle
Naming the great blue heron, ancient water sage
Even as my course veers along a tree-lined boulevard
The creature glides behind Douglas fir crests
slow motion flaps a lesson in in persistence
I am older than your gods, concern myself
Not with clouds or hunger, only my ability
to fly from danger, fly towards food
In a small forested canyon with sharp curves,
I brake, lose sight of the bird at last
Absorb its real and imagined lessons
Continual motion towards the ineffable
as sunbeams glint golden through cedar boughs
3. Goose Energy
Filter out the squawk tones
what we perceive as voices
the unified fluttering wingtips
of a minor flock of Canada Geese
The nuisance species landing in a field
Wings sing-speaking power with grace
The sounds of avian physics sizzle and hum
The way high voltage transmission lines buzz
How have I never noticed this music before?
l talk to the geese because I have lost faith in God
Imagine goose energy recharging a polarized world
Joshua Baker lives with his wife and pets in Oregon, where he works for the U.S. Postal Service and is slowly teaching himself Spanish. His writing has recently appeared in Cirque, The Opiate, and Mad Swirl.