Lorica for my soon-to-be-teenage son

Lorica for my soon-to-be-teenage son

at Moon Creek today
I call upon the winged ones
who have fired my son’s soul
since he was small

between him and adolescent angst
I place these birds and their powers
a living shield
to keep him whole as his life shifts

I place the chickadee with his confidence
and the albatross with her ease
the junco with his acceptance
and the eagle with her righteousness

I place the Arctic tern with his strength
and the loon with her devotion
the condor with his perspective
and the kakapo with her contentment

I place the bluebird with his optimism
and the snowy owl with her resilience
the trumpeter swan with his self-esteem
and the Verreaux’s eagle-owl with her wisdom

I place the little blue penguin with his connectedness
and the wooly-necked stork with her lovingkindness
the bird-of-paradise with his persistence
and the falcon with her focus

I place the bowerbird with his artistry
and the woodpecker with her grit
the blue-winged macaw with his compassion
and the ptarmigan with her warmth

all these memories and powers
I place between my sweet son
and all darkness
all despair

between his kind, trusting heart
and all forms of doubt
between gentleness
and the hard world

at Moon Creek today
I gather all these wonders
to encircle him
with their soft strong wings

to sing to him in the dark
that is not yet dawn
to remind him what a gift it is
to be here in the wide world

where hummingbirds survive hurricanes
and plovers calm crocodiles
with their grace beside him and within him
I send him out into the world

trusting he will be true
to who he is
what he loves
and what he stands and kneels for