Songs of the Puget Sound

2.

Yesterday
hens carried their round flouncy bodies
up into the coup,
chittering and cooing their sunshine happiness.

Something then moved out of the blackberries.
Little gift of wildness,
a cup of warmth
in a baby's coat

content,
and hardly afraid.

The hens in bed told stories
soft so soft
to each other and the hidden moon.

So I sat on the porch of the hen house
glad songs welcoming ears,
and the rabbit,
no more than a few weeks old,
nibbled the tender grass.

There is a time at the end of the most perfect day,
when the sun has been your companion,
when the air lingers full of the first few days of summer,

when there could be no more perfection
and then comes a movement,
the brown innocence,
quicker beat of heart
so far from your own.

To rise up on tiny bones and wonder,
to grasp a green stalk
taller than your head,

with no hands. Yes, no hands.
And I imagine how small its ivory
grinding as the grass and seeds slip
down into that bit of darkness.

Imagine what may come later in the long night
of larger hungers. And I wonder if it lives in fear.
And if not is this called innocence.

The ears turn to gather from this way and that
a warning, yet the air is warm and heavy. Old moon
hasn't yet climbed into its fields of stars.

And the hens, fall silent.
I leave the seed eater as we have
both reached our satisfaction.

A day like that
one hardly knows
how to write about.

~~~

How the Boy Saved Dragons

What little voice
in darkness calls
from behind the stars
where once were walls.

From a far off land
of dragon dance
where wars were ended
and peace began.

I hail the silence
I hail the song
into crowds of hearts
the victory won.





for Tyler Robinson & Imagine Dragons

c2014 T.L. Stokes (all rights reserved)

Tyler Robinson Foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpAgxW1vQw

Life Unavoidable

This day I will arise from sleep like the sun
from the ocean
I will climb into the day
with the sun under my arm
and the moon below me
we will dance oh bright happiness
oh deep beautiful you
we will swim in rivers of spring's last flowers
take my hand
come with me
listen
believe.

In all things we will allow the heart to wander
the child beside us
wonder-filled
open
holding all things
and nothing
willing to walk in pain
unafraid of falling
for to love is to risk all things
I have found loving you.
Wounded at times by compassion
the thought of losing you
the dark how it crowds in
just as floods carve away
at fields and mountains.

Yet, I would love you
in spite of all these things.
To be alive and to feel is the spirit's passion.
Unavoidable. Thrilling.
Real. Yes, real.

~~~

c2014 T.L. Stokes (all rights reserved)

New Poem at Stirring: "Reading Marvin Bell"
by T.L. Stokes

Click here:

Stirring - A Literary Collection

Beautiful photograph by Clay Wardlaw
and interesting new work this month at Stirring.
Enjoy!!

Mandela's Mouse

Mandela's Mouse

Nelson

I believe you will slip away from us

when no one is looking,

hungry world, unfinished children,

one night like any other.

No fist rants the door,

no flash of light

no bars left on windows;

unnoticed, the idea of time

removes itself

like a mouse,

after finishing the last speck

of the last crumb of bread,

without turning

or needing a thing

tiny feet

hurry away.

We never know

where your eyes will open next.

Once slipped

from antiqued pages

the note falls,

yet the book of your body

does not miss the words

of your life.

Nelson before you go

tell me a story.

Please don't say a word.

Let me sit in the chair by the bed

the room filling with lightning bugs, moths,

an old eagle.

The rattler’s tail shivers

and drums in the distance.

You let go of us

as your breath seems to be something we need

more than you do.

You stand with the sheet around your shadow

burned by a soft light

as with all good ghosts

gone while the getting is good.

by T.L. Stokes

c2013 T.L. Stokes (all rights reserved)

Environmentally Critical Land - Seattle Department of Planning & Development

Invitation to Beauty and a Warning

A tree stands on the edge of a gentle park-like parcel
of land, across the street a swamp full of brush, water
and trees (one of those special places wildlife loves)
points outward toward Union Bay.

When we arrive, I stand on a sidewalk catching my
first glimpse of a well-established eagle nest in a tall tree.
Within minutes a bald eagle flies in from the waterfront
and lands nearby, immediately opening its wings to dry.
It moves to another tree as if to find a little more sunlight
behind the gray overcast sky. Soon it flies to the nest tree
perching near the very top, again opening its wings,
as if in prayer.

About half of the nest has recently fallen part way down the tree.
A local resident said there have been no big wind storms lately.

This time of year as eagles return to their nests, they will begin
bringing courtship gifts of large and small sticks and together rebuild
and strengthen the nest to be ready for egg-laying the coming year.

This parcel of beautiful land is in the review stages for a full
subdivision into 82 parcels, platting of new streets, and adding
126,500 cubic yards for grading. This is the sign posted at the
entrance where there is a new gate and fencing.

Seattle Department of Planning and Development is conducting
an environmental review.The comment period ended 12/15/13
but may be extended to 12/29/13.This is considered an
environmentally critical area. You can contact Seattle
Dept of Planning and Development at (206) 684-8467
or email PRC@Seattle.gov.

As we looked over the sweep of grassy fields, small ponds and
trees, there was an abundance of smaller birds in trees and bushes.
The bald eagle flew from the nest tree out over the swamp toward
Union Bay. More stories to come!