I've been working on writing, revising and gathering my poems for the upcoming poetry workshop I was invited to in June with Marge Piercy in Wellfleet and I am reminded of a poem I wrote a few years ago called "baby birds" that was published in "In Celebration of Mothers" an Anthology.
I felt inspired to write the poem when my own 'baby birds'-- my son Nathan and my daughter Bella first went away to College.
baby
birds
by Linda Maria Steele
Today I watch over the birds in the marsh
as if
they’re my own.
Give them wings,
so they can fly,
they say.
What they won’t say
is how much
You won’t want to let them go.
How much your soul will ache
for them to
return home.
What remains is the coming and going of
the geese, spotted hawk
and egrets on the path.
Instead of worrying about my own
flying away safely,
I wonder if I’ll see the heron today
instead.
Has the swan egg hatched?
Is that the song of a baby black bird?
I see the Osprey flying
over its nest.
When my children were young
I told them
Watch for cars.
Wash behind your ears.
Be home on time.
Eat right.
In their absence an emptiness fills my
heart.
My love for them needs a place to land,
with an eagle eye I pay close attention
to the birds that welcome me to the
marsh.
There’s relief in seeing
the heron return after
the long harsh winter.
Barely visible out on the edge of the
water
I spot a newly born heron.
And I know all is well.
