Right Now

Right now birds are singing.

Tomorrow I may fail
or you may die
or earth may burn

But right now birds are singing.

Birds are singing
and the air is cool
the oranges are sweet
and the coffee is warm.

Later, tears may come
or fear
or broken bones and promises

But right now birds are singing.

Birds are singing,
my heart is beating,
my lungs are breathing,
my home stands,
and love lives.

Right now birds are singing.

A Place Where Birds Come

May this be a place where birds come
where songbirds come
trilling resistance to hoarse despair

where determined dandelions press
through the broken back of concrete
and moss moves to meet them
while berries bob and hang
heavy with ripeness and ready to drop
 
where spiders find the needed stillness
to weave their winking strands
and monarchs ride the breeze
etching their shadows on lifting leaves.

Come into this place of birds and bees.
Notice the texture of living things.
Drink the sky and eat
huge helpings of sun-glazed air.


-CJM summer to fall, 2017