A Letter to Judith Jamison

Dear Judith, 

You remind me of me. I do not say that w/ ego or anything like that. I keep hearing your name. Your grace, your authority, your humility, your peace, your inner turmoil, what ran through your mind, your limit, your respect for those in authority, your humility, your lust, your health, your boundary… I can feel it. You were so gracious, so nurturing, but still had the ability to push yourself and those around you respectfully. You honored the limit. You knew when it was time to push past it and when to surrender to it. Open to correction. Valued correction. Rebellion. Acceptance. Alone. Valued. In great company. Constantly wandering about the unknown. Tapped in. Having feelings you did not want and constantly surrendering them. Loving HARD. Loving deep. Loving too much. Loving forever. Loya. Rewarded. Of great wealth in every way. Your smile meant everything to everyone around you. I’ll never know you, but I sure can feel you. Your graceful nod of the head held weight. 

Much love, 
Alyse

hawk (soda creek dream)

& i returned with my book
to the spot where i first saw the blue heron
by soda creek i watched a hawk 100 feet up 
& opened my book

some hawks’ eyes see ultraviolet wavelengths
which allows them to sense 
a creature’s temperature 
which is a measure of their health

hawks have huge eyes 
the organism’s retinas are big screens
large images are projected onto them
with a high density of photoreceptors

i must’ve drifted off briefly because i looked up 
& i was standing in front of the old uranium mine
& from the dark hole bats began to emerge 
in a single file twisting into the sky like smoke

then i heard your voice 
a whisper & something shifted
i realized they were not bats
they were hawks

poetry by daniel n birnbaum

two butterFLY 

1.

Butterful butterfly, why
d’you lumber like cumbersome Frankenstein?
Beauterful butterfly, why
d’you land on my hand with the clunk of a baby grand?
Flutterful butterfly, why
wear Doc Martens on six of your feet?
Have antennae with Direct TV?
Flap flap flap flap to cause stormings at sea?

Why do they make you a symbol of freedom?
Instead, I lean into your secretive meaning: 
that seldom are things what they seem 
to human being.

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poetry by daniel n birnbaum

BEAUTIFULLY ALONE.

Be a rock. 
Allow the ants and other insects to crawl on you. 
Let the nude body and flesh be in the river. 
Drink the water. 
Feel the sun. 
Be in peace and freedom. 
Surrender to all things around you. 
Don’t let fear enter, and if it does, allow it to pass. 
Document everything: photo, video, words.
Let time alone be beautiful, not fearful. 

[note: in this version, the title is at the end]

medicine wolf was deported. you saw it! we all did! & we dreamt about it long ago.

oh you understand me very well bro! it’s in our bloodstream. as children we watched coyote on tv. as kids we read his books over & over till our bones were glyphed & sculpted.

he plays dead. we come closer. he watches outta the corner of his moon-shaped vision.

medicine wolf was rounded up & put on a plane. renditioned. to an island within an island. 

he doesn’t die. monotheist spirit guides, always trying to assassinate the animal inside. all they do is poison thought, like their jackals poison the water. 

some people think it’s funny …  hilarious. till they realize what it’s gonna cost ‘em. he plays dead. we inch closer. & the price we’re gonna have to pay – oh bro it’s sky high

Coyote!

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poetry by daniel n birnbaum

Beautifully alone 

A worthwhile challenge