Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The Panic of Birds by Olena K. Davis

My yellow Moonflower in the rain.


THE PANIC OF BIRDS
By Olena Kalytiak Davis

The moon is sick
of pulling at the river, and the river
fed up with swallowing the rain,
So, in my lukewarm coffee, in the bathroom
mirror, there's a restlessness
as black as a raven.

Landing heavily on the quiet lines of this house.
Again, the sun takes cover
and the morning is dead
tired of itself, already, it's pelting and windy
as I lean into the pane
that proves this world is a cold smooth place.

Wind against window---let the words fight it out---
as I try to remember: What is it
that's so late in coming? What was it
I understood so well last night, so well it kissed me,
sweetly on the forehead?

Wind against window and my late flowering brain,
heavy, gone to seed. Pacing
from room to room and in each window
a different version of a framed woman
unable to rest, set against a sky
full of beating wings and abandoned
directions. Her five chambered heart
filling with the panic of birds, asking: What?

What if not this?

+++++++++++++++

A perfect poem, this, to go with a hurricane.  So far, we've only had some wind, dark clouds and no rain.  But the Hummingbirds are here in droves.  I've had to refill my 3 feeders every single day for a week.  I guess they're escaping the storms down South.  I'll feed them all.

The wind is awesome, just amazing.  I wish I could bottle it.  I've taken down all my windchimes and moved my plants in.  Come on Isaac.  Bring it on.  I'm ready now.

xo,
Marion

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"No one but Night, with tears on her dark face,
Watches beside me in this windy place."   ~Edna St. Vincent Millay


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The wind shows us how close to the edge we are. ~Joan Didion
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8 comments:

Phoenix said...

Stay safe in the storm, my friend, and remember that those who lean into the wind are the least broken by it.

Bring it on indeed.

::hugs:: - Phoenix

Anonymous said...

We are having winds and a little rain now, I like the wind too. I wanted it to come this way. xo

Snowbrush said...

Glad you're doing okay down there. You know, I've never heard of a yellow moonflower, but I have heard of a "murder of crows."

quid said...

ML...

Hope you didn't lose power and glad the wind chimes and plants found shelter from the storm.

Loved the pic of the yellow moonflower.

quid

Marion said...

Phoenix, thank you. The wind was awesome and we had no damage. We were okay till today and we awoke to flooding in our den, water flowing under the sliding glass doors from flash floods. OY!!! Ray's mopping as fast as he can, poor baby!! xoxo

Trav, I think it's coming your way. I hope you get some wind to appease your Indian side. xoxo

Snow, you crack me up. If this plant makes seeds, I'll send you some. My white Moonflower like this one made hundreds of seeds! Thanks for stopping by. xoxo

Quid, we didn't lose power, thank God, just flooding today. Hey, this was supposed to be YOUR storm in Tampa!!! LOL! I'm happy y'all were spared. xoxo

Wine and Words said...

I watched some crazy show called "Swamp People" or something...about catching alligators. Of course I thought of Ray and I and our macho trek through the swamp :) But also the show was focused on a storm coming, and how they knew it was going to be bad because of the birds. The birds cluster in protection when there's a bad one coming and the alligators come up to feed big in order to submerge and avoid it all!

Love you!

erin said...

i smile at your spunk, marion. which wind would be fool enough to fuck with you?:)))

the natural disorder in the poem speaks to an old way of being for me. it unsettles me to think that these philosophical states of being are so easily tossed about, but of course they are. everything is.


xo
erin

Ben Ditty said...

I hope you're okay, Moonflower Marion!