Blackbird, he says,
but there’s black and there’s black–
what color the feathers
the outer layer, not one
flat hue, more
complicated,
changed by
lightdarkyearsangleseasonlandscapesituation
and what is worn
inside, manipulated by movement
or inability to move–
what is invisibly
embraced or
abused, blood
colored by
breathtouchsilenceangerforgivenessaccemptancejuxtaposition
blackbirdblackcatblackmagicblacklightblackholeblackboxblackdeath
the subtlties lost
in labels, the categories fixed
in time—if we gave
the ordinary new
mysterious names,
looked underneath
the definitions—
we could open pages
and pages
heretofore
unseen
of inexplicable
and enchanted
life
The NaPoWriMo Day 8 prompt asks us to “start with a line by another poet”–my eyes lit up when I saw the name Richard Siken–a wonderful artist/poet. The first line above is from “The Language of the Birds”, one of my favorite of his poems. Click the title to read it.
Art inspired by Richard Diebenkorn.
K. 
Wonderful word-play!
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Thanks Elizabeth!
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I like the ordered chaos of the collage.
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Thanks Jade. That’s a good description of a lot of Diebenkorn, he orders the chaos of the landscape, so I’m pleased to have captured some of that feeling.
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Aha! I learn from you. I started another collage this morning.
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Great!
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Wonderfully done, Kerfe. And of course, that is the perfect poem for you! Wow.
I love the blackbird song, too. Do you remember I shared a Mik maq version of it about a year ago?
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I spent a long time listening to different versions, but finally decided on young Paul.
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These comments are always sending themselves…
Siken was a find. I was perusing books in the library and was first drawn to his painting on the cover. Boy do I miss my library…
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This is so true of many things, situations, people. Books and covers.
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Yes exactly. Books and covers.
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