Bank Tangle
Trainstop anomaly: twig nest
tucked into branch tangle:
river-scan, plummet, breed -
Across the Hudson, homes
tucked in to bank slope:
survey, embark, dwell -
settled in for the duration.
Nineteen miles downstream,
smoke rises at Indian Point.
As the river ambles north,
histories wheeze in eddies,
palimpsest laden with fuse.
note
Charles Darwin used the phrase “tangled bank” to refer to the
intermixture of life forms “dependent
upon each other in so complex a manner” (On the Origin of Species).
In the pith of diapause
tone held through the gap
between crawl-chew
and flutter-sip
weather churn
on the brink: wings rolled
ready, colors soft
through chrysalis wrap
slow unfurl
finding the updraft
Note: Diapause is a temporary developmental arrest that allows insects to circumvent adverse environmental conditions, usually weather.
In the pith of attenuation
excruciate at the crossroads
chiasmic tangle climacteric muddle
Janus-pull cross-wires warp-wrap
heed elusive
scale-nuance interval trill attune
consonance-throb
murmuration
In the pith of hover
When we stand still,
our heads’ weight tilts us forward.
Momentum prompts movement
to resist falling.
Wing flaps let some birds hover:
a strenuous mid-air suspension
kestrel matches wind speed head-on
poised in transparency to foresee
osprey hangs still to focus on foraging
hummingbird parades his ball-and-socket shoulder joint
his wing lift on up-beats as well as down
skates figure eights before
the trumpet flower’s throat
sips deep flashes luminescence wheels away
We are left staring at vacancy
sensing wake turbulence,
vortex from activated wings.
Sometimes we wait alert,
thirsty for an intimation,
an evanescent summons
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