ALTOGETHER ALIVE
1) Robin
Disguised by its familiarity,
its habitat collective memory
(near AM radio and Wonder Bread),
the robin is a bird you hardly see,
out on the lawn with Bobby Kennedy,
its breast a faded Campbell-soup-can red.
2) Black-capped Chickadee
This cheery, hospitable chatterbox,
who flits about with friends in little flocks
twittering all year round about what’s new
—where snowmelt trickles, sightings of a fox,
or when to keep an eye out for the hawks—
gives great advice to migrants passing through.
3) American Crow
A crow utters hello as if it coughed.
A crow prefers the jagged to the soft.
For cherubs, clouds; for crows, a broken limb—
the crow is disinclined to stay aloft,
nor can it lift its voice to join the hymn.
Who hasn’t worn this darkness? Graceless, grim.
4) Red-winged Blackbird
Miles of rippling grass, and who would guess
that here are parcelled lots? At each address
a settler stakes his claim to half an acre—
earth, stream and sky—and not a cubit less.
Perched on a cattail, watchman, early waker,
he clings to what he fiercely would possess.
5) Herring Gull
Avatars of appetite, they soar
above the parking lots of Burger Kings,
or hover over party boats offshore,
ravenous for mackerel heads and gore;
a churned wake draws a turbulence of wings
and frenzied cries that translate: More! More! More!
6) Saltmarsh Sparrow
Pst! (a secret!) Chip! chip! sputter, wheeze,
throat giggle, snorer’s whistle, clink of keys…
This bashful sparrow’s soloing suggests
the prattle of our grandchild in her nest
of pillows. Happy those soliloquies
whose Hamlets never doubt to be is best!
7) Wild Turkey
Deep chestnut brown with purple fripperies,
dandies seeking higher elevation,
wild turkey cocks roost near the tops of trees.
This love of heights survives domestication,
but dims with each succeeding generation.
The colors too. Such is a life of ease.
8) Bobolink
Think Zelig. Or, a Forrest Gump that flies
twelve thousand miles a year through nighttime skies.
No telling where this stylish bird will be:
in Lincoln’s campaign songs of liberty,
in recipes for antebellum pies,
in Amherst, skipping church with Emily…
9) Red-tailed Hawk
Like Euclid on a limb, eyes cold and clear,
he rises from his stately perch to trace
great circles in the air and, cleaving space,
extends infinity a wide embrace—
then dives! The hawk’s red shriek assaults the ear.
His vector strikes its endpoint like a spear.
10) Snowy Owl
Shawn Klush, world’s greatest Elvis wannabe,
can trace his glitzy showman’s pedigree
to candelabra-flattered Liberace—
his coat of ermine purring Look at me—
and to the Snowy Owl, whom paparazzi
bottleneck the island road to see.
11) Great Blue Heron
This striking bird that Audubon depicted
as contortionist, folded to fit
color-plate 211, looks a bit
self-conscious, like an awkward teen who’d quit
whatever box they’ve put her in, afflicted
with uniqueness. No escaping it.
12) Bald Eagle
A grey midwinter morning. A clean slate.
Perched on a floodlight pole, this magistrate
leisurely eyes the stadium for small game,
unburdened by the emblematic weight
of victory and empire, wealth and fame,
and looking pretty regal just the same. 
