"Lucinda"
Santa Fe Train Depot
Shawnee, Oklahoma
© C.C. Brooks

 

BIRDS OF THE SOUL

It seems Rilke thought angels were birds of
the soul.  Or rather angels are birds carrying
our soul particles.  I’ve always supposed this. 
So it’s nice to have it confirmed.

I took a walk on a dirt section road bisecting

a remnant river bottom cornfield.  Overhead,
nothing but the blue sky buttered with a few clouds. 
And then it darkened with a ribbon of ten-thousand
blackbirds, pestering a red-tailed hawk. 

After another look Rilke thought angels were

evil birds of the soul.  With all due respect to
the poet this is not what I had in mind. 

Forget the collective cultural terror from the movie

The Birds.  Ignore the bird shit bombardment
of your car at the mall.  There is no greater mystery
than an angel’s smoky breath cloud of blackbirds
dancing across the sky. Delivering our soul particles
for the next go around.