Happy Thanksgiving to all. A wonderful time to enjoy humanity, beauty, the bountiful harvest and give gratitude.
“Sea Eagle”, jane kohut-bartels, watercolor, 2001
–
The world is suffering deeply and no one religion owns God. Regardless the amount of bombs, attacks, suicide vests and the retaliation of the ‘other sides’…..the balance of life is distorted, destroyed.
Our creativity gives us a sense of balance and a return to sanity. Today, that is in short supply.
Lady Nyo
–
ODE TO A COOPERS HAWK
Come to me.
Come to me,
Winged celestial beauty.
Come to me with your notched
Mermaid tail,
Your silken roll of feathers.
–
Fly down into my hollowed-out soul,
Fill me with your sun-warmed glory
Nestle in my arms
And bring the curve of the horizon
Embraced in your outstretched wings.
–
I need no white bearded prophet,
No mumbled prayer, no gospel song
No hard church bench, no fast or
Festival to feel close to the Divine.
–
The glory of the universe,
Is embodied in your flight
As you tumble through heavens,
Ride the invisible thermals
Screech with joy at freedom
Fill your lungs with thin air
And play bumper car with an Eagle.
I, earthbound,
No hollowed bones to launch me,
Just tired soul to weigh down,
No soft plumage to feel the course
Of wind through glossy feathers
No hunting call to herald my presence.
Still my soul takes flight
The breeze lifts my spirit,
My eyes follow you,
And we will find that glory
Transcend a sullen earth,
Transcend a mean humanity
And soar together into the blue eye of God.
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2015 (A version of this poem was published in “Pitcher of Moon”, 2014, Amazon.com)
Tags: "Ode to a Coopers Hawk", Religion
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
November 24, 2015 at 1:07 pm
All these tankas are great!!!!!!!!!
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November 24, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Thank you, Neha. Unfortunately they aren’t tankas…but the problem is that I had to create space with “-” between most of the lines because they were all running into each other!
But anyway, thank you for reading!
Lady Nyo
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November 25, 2015 at 4:36 pm
OH! MY! GOODNESS! This poem is breathtaking! Every line filled my soul and lifted it up towards the hawk, in yearning for everything you asked him for. Sigh. Just beautiful writing! Wow.
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November 25, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Thank you, Sherry. Your comment brought tears. I am so glad it had that effect on you.
I find organized religion repressive, and dogma exhausting. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t great joy and beauty and a reason for profound gratitude. Hopefully our creative work reflects that gratitude and yearning.
I am slowly finding my way, a path, towards something of fundamental substance. Birds figure highly (lol) in my appraisal of life and theologies.
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friend.
Love, Jane
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June 19, 2019 at 12:05 am
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ODE TO A COOPERS HAWK and Happy Thanksgiving! | Lady Nyo's Weblog
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