by David Chorlton
*
A cloudy desert day. The city smiles. Slow rain falling. Circles of light on the pond. The same sad news drop by drop and no umbrella for protection against reports from far away. It’s numbers day by smoking day with innocence as no defence, a conflict over who belongs and who doesn’t. It’s different with birds, the ones who stray out of their range are most sought after like the Streak-backed Orioles come north to the water reclamation park. They don’t need papers. No visas. Just an orange cut in half for easy feeding. Welcome bright birds. No borders in the air. The newscast doesn’t reach to where they are. They leave a question hanging: are there orioles in the Middle East? Has beauty ever been a broker between the sides of an old argument? One side does this, the other does that. They keep doing what they know to do. Every answer comes in kind. There must be a field guide for cruelty. It must be disguised as a holy book.
*
David Chorlton lives in Phoenix and takes note of the local wildlife. He had a book out early this year called The Flying Desert in which many of the birds he sees even within the city limits are represented in poems and his watercolor paintings.
I appreciate the weaving of the Streak-backed Oriole with the dark news of the day. This one deserves rereading. Thanks for posting it.