Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

poem-oops March 28, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:38 am

Always look around once more

at every stop you make

to ensure your bags are with you

so you don’t neglect to take

them to the car and

drive away with them

or else you’ll be forced to detour

to pick them up again!

.

.

Silly me.  Set down my computer bag when the concierge encouraged me to make some hot chocolate for the road.  Noticed it was missing 4 hours later at the next hotel.  ARG!!  No work on my grad school assignment tonight!  (and up very early tomorrow to make an unplanned 8 hour trip to collect it).

 

poem-the river’s bride March 27, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:03 am
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Oh, her longings are loud

and she seizes opportunities,

reads the mysteries and leaps.

.

Oh, her caution curls her

into weeping domesticity,

because she never neglects responsibilities.

.

Oh, love leaps from the river

like a dolphin and tangles in

fishermen’s nets

and bridal veils.

.

.

A little homage to the theatrical presentation of the Brazilian folk tale The River Bride by Marisela Treviño Orta, enjoying its world premier at Oregon Shakespeare Festival at the moment (2016 season).  We thoroughly enjoyed the complex tale with its stunning set and lighting!

 

 

haiku-dream March 26, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:51 pm
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Down the hall, I hear

the soft woofing of a dreaming dog,

but no dogs are here.

.

Is someone gleefully

chasing dream rabbits

at our B and B?

.

True story.  (Thin walls).

 

poem-in praise of grey clouds

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 8:57 am
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You’re overcast again,

a nearly perennial state,

but I have a colourful umbrella

for contingencies,

and I’m safe from sunburn.

Blue sky is beautiful, of course,

but the texture of tangled

shades of grey offering drama

has some appeal,

in small doses, at least.

 

 

poem-perhaps it is March 25, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:30 am
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Perhaps it is

some sort of survivor’s guilt

that the fractured fragments

the twisted tableaux of warped memories

those bêtes noires barely contained within your brain,

burst in sullen silence, tremulous terror, or

most disturbing, that  zombie calm

of a human automaton.

Perhaps it is

just chemistry asserting its superiority:

neuro-biology exposing itself

as a short-circuiting electric conduit

for daily conduct.

Perhaps it is

an allegory for transformation

or

perhaps it is

futility that demonstrates fallibility

and ultimately, profound humility.

 

poem-hollow March 24, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:58 am
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There are so many hollow places

that feel the lack of you.

I want you like water,

fill me up,

make me a waterfall,

creating hollow places in my travels.

 

poem-questions and answers March 23, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:43 pm
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Long drive

side by side

time to ask the big questions

muse on what was and what will be.

Long drive

side by side

time to hear the answers

pull you and me back into we.

 

poem-irony March 22, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 6:36 pm
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I saw four bald eagles today:

Three in Canada. One in USA.

 

poem-shorn March 21, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:17 pm
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Each year, the mighty willow

on the corner, trunk three feet around,

or more,

hums with the buzzing saws that

trim it to the trunk.

Supple yellow switches, eager for naughty backsides

or basket making pile on either side of the fence,

gathered for scrap not utility,

and a giant stands naked again.

 

 

poem-fingers March 20, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:54 am
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Your fingers are dancing

across the keyboard and your

melodies waltz through the air

tickling me to wakefulness.