In the wood, God was manifest,
as he was not in the sermon.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Woodpeckers the size of giant crows
With jackhammers as long as their heads are wide
Drum against the hearts of hollow trees
Reverberatingly, and yet they hide
And months and years go by with nothing heard
From the great and legendary Lord God Bird.
Meanwhile, smaller packages descend
Without the tools for enigmatic echoes,
With flourishes of black and white and red
Reduced to sparrow size, and yet they peck
Away their beating purpose next to me,
Reporting how to live and simply be.
I’ve been off in the forest seeking drums,
Yet sometimes with a tap God speaks to me.
from Thirty Birds
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