Simply For The Birds

The morning and my mood were a little foggy but a walk along the piers of Gloucester Marina cleared both up nicely. I happened upon two busy fishermen at work. The early bird gets the ...fish?...

Egrets
Poetry by Mary Oliver

Where the path closed
down and over,
through the scumbled leaves,
fallen branches,
through the knotted catbrier,
I kept going. Finally
I could not
save my arms
from thorns; soon
the mosquitoes
smelled me, hot
and wounded, and came
wheeling and whining.
And that's how I came
to the edge of the pond:
black and empty
except for a spindle
of bleached reeds
at the far shore
which, as I looked,
wrinkled suddenly
into three egrets - - -
a shower
of white fire!
Even half-asleep they had
such faith in the world
that had made them - - -
tilting through the water,
unruffled, sure,
by the laws
of their faith not logic,
they opened their wings
softly and stepped
over every dark thing.

THE CORMORANT
Poetry by Necati Cumali
Translated by Ruth Christie

Now he dives deep in thought before the windows
He recalls warm summer evenings
Ships pass with empty decks
On the wide empty sea
Over and over a hungry cormorant dives

I know loneliness chills the heart
The heart is always searching for someone to love
It remembers loves left only in glances
Lightly-sweating palms flushed cheeks
And evening strolls on the tree-lined roads

The first stars are born before the tread of dark
Your feelings float like the fragrance of flowers
On the way home your footsteps falter
You stop and listen to the wind
You exchange glances with every woman you meet

There’s a long summer still before you
All day loitering here and there
Tossing and turning in bed all night
Moonlight and hot weather fire to the blood
The slightest thought steals away sleep

Now winds blow cold in your face
Clouds pass laden with grief and rain
Mail-vans climb the slopes
Now birds and wolves live apart from each other
Water flows apart from the pebbles

Now he dives deep in thought his eyes grow big
He recalls warm summer evenings
Lightly-sweating palms flushed cheeks
On the wide empty sea
Over and over a hungry cormorant dives

Now they're telling fish stories!

Simply For The Birds
C_A_B