This weekend I put up the tree swallow house
and this morning four swallows arrived, early;
just like that – out of nowhere.
I imagine them, after the long journey
high up spotting the house; thinking the same thing.
…
In the past I haven’t recorded tree swallows arriving before early May. These were quite unexpected.
Chasing crow, robin
and finch. Badgering heron;
red-winged blackbird.
I used to be afraid of the dark.
I avoid angels,
but this morning watch them lift.
Thousands, deafening
off the river’s ancient bank;
muddy talons, broken branches
trailing bits of straw.
Fresh tracks and bloodstains
where ice meets open water.
Everything; written in the snow.
There’s nothing I can add.
American Goldfinch and Slate-Colored Junco
Dancing on Frozen Beaver Ponds 