Screech
By onemorething
- 2498 reads
The moon is communion
to an owl: a light of pale wafer
bestowed upon the perspective of night.
And hootless, a screech owl complains
from high branches, waits
for a woodpecker's work to be done or
the opportunity of disrepair
to find the refuge of a home.
In the darkness,
the meditation of water
is a scrutiny of reflection until
the unconscious resurfaces in dreams;
time is malleable - in a reverie
that devours the hours between,
the journey of sleep, a quietus
of ego, reborn each morning.
Meanwhile, to defy gravity
is its own dimension where a gray morph
is at once November's bird and
the bark of a hickory tree, a silent wing,
the funeral of a shrew.
This is the wisdom
an owl would speak to me:
a yellow eye, the rituals of life
in league with death in the embrace
of claw and beak, from perch
to the birthright of flight -
a freedom to be.
The gray morph eastern screech owl is one of my favourites, part owl, part tree.
Image is from here: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_Screech_Owl.jpg(link is external)
Also on Twitter: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spooky_the_Screech_Owl.jpg(link is external)
- Log in to post comments
Comments
Time
Time is indeed malleable. Haunting reflection of the beauty of nature
- Log in to post comments
Really admire how you blend
Really admire how you blend the imagery of animals with the impermanence of consciousness.
- Log in to post comments
They do look somehow
They do look somehow ridiculous don't they? I hope you'll have a think about our new reading event onemore (I promise not to mention it again though )
- Log in to post comments
This is a super read! It needs another - I'll have another go
tomorrow -you share some wise owl beautifully, and my brain knew that a moment ago but now cant remember anything! Lol - is that a bit like dreaming and I might be asleep right now? :Oo *coffee break* I really liked your recent 'I don't know' poem - this one knows feel about it, part owl part tree would! No screech here though -ace of diamonds opening wafer communion moon image, cool rhyme dreams/between right there, and the ego sleepdive, dreams, and resurfacing - interesting thinking. Hadn't read this when retweeted it earlier, took pics of moon and noticed rare no reflection on the river :) Lots to think about in your poem - liked the woodpecker annoying ! Thought that made the owl super ego for a mo, need to read this one again for sure, lots in there -it's super!
- Log in to post comments
I really enjoyed this poem
I really enjoyed this poem Rachel.
Love the idea of the moon being a communion, a light pale wafer bestowed upon the perspective of night. What an amazing way to look at the moon.
Don't you just love owls? They conjure up so many magical moments in nature.
Jenny.
- Log in to post comments
"part owl, part tree",
"part owl, part tree", I must say the photo is fascinating it's even hard to believe it's real. Camouflage?
Tom Brown
- Log in to post comments