the birds move through my body

Robert Erod

this body is a nest for larks    a nest for orioles 

I want to say something but I keep using the wrong words 

I am feeling lost and the compass in my pocket is weak 

made of wax and plastic 

thus I am without any true direction 

there are no superpowers in this body 

I cannot fly or become invisible 

and I am not all that smart 

this body is a nest for larks    a nest for orioles 

the birds move through my body    feathered and alive 

and I feel the need to explain this to you

 words come to me    but when I say them 

something happens and the birds fly away 

there they go again 

james lee jobe

​No mud, no lotus.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Sue Gardner

how can I bless my own heart 

lighting a candle means nothing 

neither does burning the sage 

it might look good    smell good    feel good 

but really it is nothing 

making the sign of the cross 

and saying a ‘hail mary also is nothing 

and covering your head before god 

nothing    nothing at all 

how then shall I bless my own soul 

through choices and deeds     friend 

it is the things that are done 

or not done that count 

keeping some kindness and joy 

in the days that I live 

getting outside of the head and into the heart 

and leaving something good here 

for those that are still to come 

so there's work to do here 

yes    I have work to do yet  

james lee jobe

LINK: poetry by Salvador De Madariaga, “Spanish Folk Songs”

Art Pepper Quartet - Modern Art, album, 1957

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james