CHAIN SAW OIL, BIRD FEEDER, SWIMMING POOL

 

CHAIN SAW OIL, BIRD FEEDER, SWIMMING POOL

        The one subject that is truly worthy of a Christian poet:

        The great Mystery of God, revealing his mercy to us in Christ.

                            Thomas Merton, Art & Spirituality

God for Troublemakers and Tom Merton.

What the chain saw makes possible.

Cut birch limbs fire length, bind them

with rope and display them with stones.

Tough beauty to throw or burn. Find a way

to say you’re not too old. The poet,

if he is one, goes to work. His chain saw

gets him a pass with neighbors and

New World Sparrows. Gayle walks Lucy

by garden porch on extended leash.

May she not get caught and fall. Birds,

here, foraging, bathing, frolicking.

They must mate after their bath,

pretending it’s Sunday afternoon.

Their crowned striped heads shine

full of rich Nyger seeds. High quality

thistles, these, spilled seeds from

feeder by the Finches. We’re with them,

Karen and I. We travel in different

circles from Melania and Don.

My cookies for Camp Hope tomorrow

are counted and stored. King Arthur’s

Best Chip Cookie. Two sticks

Land O’Lakes Butter, three kinds

of chocolate, calling for two full cups

of oatmeal pulsed into flour. A cup

of raisins. Protein breakfast for dessert

following the meal of Sloppy Joe’s

and Cole Slaw. Karen’s in her chair.

The cantaloupe and melon

I cut fresh came from this Earth

which we love dearly. All is not

well in the Gulf of Hormuz.

Constant improvising to fix

problems they themselves created.

I think I mentioned the swimming pool.

I’ll get there. I try for 32 minutes

acting as much like mating birds

as I can imagine. This life, this

blessed, blessed life.

Jim Bodeen

11-15 April 2026