Skip to main content

Downy Woodpecker

Skitter scatter and scratch
Stop to tap, tap and tap
Poke, peak and tap.
Tap, tap and tap.
Divine persistence will pay
little feathered brother
tap tap tap tap tap
Divine persistence will pay
that's what the Earth will say
Keep it up, keep searching
Keeping wanting and wishing
tap tap, and tap
skitter and scratch.
Good luck will come your way.

Yours is a feathered faith.
You are faith covered in feather
skittering about on a tree.
That's a faith like mine like ours
A scrambling faith
A searching faith.
faith that clings to bark
faith depending on what lies beneath
faith that could fly
but lands back beneath the branches
above the ground but below the sky
Suspended.

I n l i m b o

faith from HUNGER and hungry
Faith that flickers out of view.
flickers into view
out of view.
Panic calls and peace presides.
just like my feathered brother
the downy woodpecker.

Comments

  1. SandyCarlsonApril 9, 2011 at 7:33 PM

    I am thinking of those hungry woodpeckers and how hunger is a state of being. For all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JanePoet ~ deborahApril 26, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    I love the metaphor, imagery and sound! of your poem. Thanks for the visit on my site too :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hyde Park Poetry PalaceMay 9, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    lovely..

    profound words.
    masterful.

    welcome sharing your poetry with us,

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Almost Invisible

No outstanding warrants on me I need to commit a crime Because no one knows me Somebody has always done worse Dad never missed knowing I could have done better Five friends at his funeral Never heard of me.  I was the smoke in the censer Shook over his casket Every morning shower, I make plans To change the course of history Every evening home,  I’m shattered Seeking the glue of vodka I can’t sow peace in my garden Without killing seedlings And mutating every myth of life Somewhere between skin and muscle Is the malignant cancer of a lie Somewhere between eye and sole Is the expanse of hope. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Holiday Tables

Ours is a song of holiday tables. Clattering chatter of our dining room, Wedding china, and shared fables. This is the history of the baby boom. Clattering chatter of our dining room “Remember?” “No, not him, he’s dead.” “Oh, yeah, too bad. Cancer, I assume.” Auntie Vera remembered a good book she’d read. Remembered? Better remembered than be dead. Uncle Jack’s scotch needs more ice. He has to drive.  His face is looking red. John offers his best Republican advice. Uncle Jack’s scotch needs more ice. Good buddy Bain helps clear the dishes. Pat’s telling a story. We’ve all heard it (at least twice). Jesus! Is it Easter or is it Christmas? Good buddy Bain helps clear the dishes Oh God! Who can eat cake? We’re too full. Around here, it’s like the loaves and the fishes. Cathy knitted that scarf, real New Zealand wool. No way. Can’t do it. Can’t eat, too full. “Yes, Sinatra was great but Elvis was better.” “But      "My real name is Mister Earl”, in the lull.   ...
6 comments
Read more

Love

Unbroken smooth between before after bruises bashes and shatters Beyond humid shocking kisses rather a cool lasting that matters. You are the one safe place I know. Fingertip gravity cheeks to lips Returning coming going and home Never leaving steadfast praying grips the exploding expanse of a poem. You are what I will never give up. Arlington to Golgotha, offices to factories Shoulder in, eyes forward, chin up Quiet unspoken shared stories lingering lost ring of a coffee cup. You are my favorite ghost. (written for One Single Impression) http://onesingleimpression.blogspot.com/
7 comments
Read more