by Marguerite K. Flanders
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| Photograph by Kim Seng of Red Shoulder Hawk Perched on Live Oak at Riverbend Park in Jupiter, Florida. Via Flickr. Some rights reserved. |
“Soul selects its own society” —Emily Dickinson
Oaks are the last to cast their burdens.
Air is full of the athleticism of change.
Chickadees greet the end of the straight road
of night with their tally, the decisive chill.
The science of what must turn will leave us
bereft. We wait for all to be revealed,
as if choosing will shift the relentless
trajectory of stars, restore what has been
felled. Hawk, oak, brook, co-trustees
of winter’s approach, know better.
Marguerite Keil Flanders is the Managing Editor of Crosswinds Poetry Journal. For nine years she was part of the Ocean State Poetry team running a poetry workshop in the Men’s Medium Security prison in Cranston, Rhode Island. Margie is the author of a poetry collection, The Persuasive Beauty of Imperfection. Her work has appeared in many publications, including Boston Review, Yankee Magazine, Comstock Review, Nimrod International Journal, Connecticut River Review, and Main Street Rag.