Thanksgiving: Animals
A Little Noticing
In our little yard today I spied
a red-mustached flicker
hammering away at the powerline pole
and the hole
a male house sparrow with only
half a beard
(out-of-breeding-season plumage)
two wildly different grasshoppers and
a velvet-black jumping spider
in and out of the bed.
Who knows how many other souls
I failed to find
and
what they meant to say,
blessed hearts beating
a wall away from mine
living our own loops
hiding deep in our snug holes.
touch-up painting
it’s so easy
to let the years go by
without registering
the little scuffs and dings
the chinks in the smooth clean surfaces
carelessness’s scars
it doesn’t take long
to bring attention and a clean brush
to see and smooth the rough patches
to touch the scarred bits with
soft gentle strokes
until the wall glows whole again
and we know the joy
of putting things right
nests revealed
while waiting patiently
for the hairy woodpecker mother
to bring the very large flying bug
to her babies
two more nests reveal themselves:
a flicker flies straight to an aspen
where a branch becomes a hole
and while watching him
a mountain chickadee is
swallowed by trunk
when we’re silent and still
not rushing
the world brings us into
her inner circle
charm
by the gas station
incense changes my mood
the little red shrine has been visited
and offerings made
candles flicker and a thin trail of smoke
from the glowing sticks
matches a flow of good will and energy
flames give movement, life
to the unnamed warrior guarding
this otherwise nondescript
strip mall
slaying inattentiveness
