MAGPIE’S SONG

 by Gary Snyder

Six A.M.,

Sat down on excavation gravel

by juniper and desert S.P. tracks

interstate 80 not far off

between trucks

Coyotes—maybe three

howling and yapping from a rise.

Magpie on a bough

Tipped his head and said,

“Here in the mind, brother

Turquoise blue.

I wouldn’t fool you.

Smell the breeze

It came through all the trees

No need to fear

What’s ahead

Snow up on the hills west

Will be there every year

be at rest.

A feather on the ground–

The wind sound—

Here in the Mind, Brother,

Turquoise Blue”

Photo: “Magpie in the Sky,” shot with pinhole camera by Gwen Deanne, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“Magpie’s Song” by Gary Snyder is included in BRIGHT WINGS: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds, Edited by Billy Collins with Paintings by David Allen Sibley. This gorgeous, uplifting, inspiring book is available…