<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><span style="font-size: 22px;">Birds Again</span><div style="font-size: 22px;"><br></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A secret came a week ago though I already</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">knew it just beyond the bruised lips of consciousness.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The very alive souls of thirty-five hundred dead birds</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">are harbored in my body. It’s not uncomfortable.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I’m only temporary habitat for these not-quite-</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">weightless creatures. I offered a wordless invitation</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and now they’re roosting within me, recalling</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">how I had watched them at night</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in fall and spring passing across earth moons,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">little clouds of black confetti, chattering and singing</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">on their way north or south. Now in my dreams</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I see from the air the rumpled green and beige,</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the watery face of earth as if they’re carrying</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">me rather than me carrying them. Next winter</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I’ll release them near the estuary west of Alvarado</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and south of Veracruz. I can see them perching</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">on undiscovered Olmec heads. We’ll say goodbye</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and I’ll return my dreams to earth.</span></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(52, 52, 52); color: rgb(52, 52, 52); font-size: 21.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Jim Harrison</span></div></div></body></html>