​To a Carver of Birds on his Birthday
for Paul Howell

Here is a cloud from which
to carve a Red-tailed hawk
and have him hang among the thermals
where he fuses wind with stillness
above desert that is mirror to the sky.

Here is darkness for the knife
to cut a Varied thrush
from a forest in Alaska
and liberate its call
as shavings fall away
when it steers its shy self deeper
into spruce shadows.

Here is pondside vegetation
with a Green heron poised
between water and light
waiting to be shaped
from silence into movement
for the second
it takes to disappear.

Here is air
as hummingbirds are made of,
requiring precision
and speed of hand
enough to shape reflections
as they pass
into the world.

​