Laurie Klein Reads “Elm in Dirt with Bird”
Editor’s Note: “Poems to Listen By” is an audio series where over time we will explore some of the themes in the Poet Laura checklist.
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Poems to Listen By: Earth Song—Elm in Dirt with Bird
Presented by Laurie Klein
Welcome to “Poems to Listen By.”
Welcome to “Poems to Listen By.” I’m your host, Laurie Klein, here today with another marvelous entry from rom Earth Song: a nature poems experience.
Today’s poem comes to us via Jack Cooper.
Elm in Dirt with Bird
Shivering, stubborn, confused,
the hummingbird clung to her nest,
marooned in her tiny lifeboat
of down and spider silk.
In a pruning fury,
I had cut her out of the sky,
leaving branch, nest, and shark-tooth saw
symbolically on the ground
like some kind of protest art:
Elm in Dirt with Bird.
Her eyes followed me
as I comically tied her severed foothold,
home to her sole creation and possession,
back inside the green fountain of foliage.
The ancient surge of April
trembled in her wings,
waiting for Death to lower its head,
waiting for the world to begin again.
—Jack Cooper
Blessed are those who welcome grief
in themselves and others; they shall be intimate
with the hearts of all beings, they shall laugh
with vast joy, they shall trust the way of things.
They shall know the necessity of compassion.‘
—Erin Geesaman Rabke
You’ve just heard “Elm in Dirt with Bird” by Jack Cooper, and a modern-day beatitude by Erin Geesaman Rabke, both entries used by permission. I’m Laurie Klein. Thank you for listening!
Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash. “Elm in Dirt with Bird” by Jack Cooper, from Earth Song: a nature poems experience, ed. Sara Barkat, T.S. Poetry Press. Embodied Beatitudes by Erin Geesaman Rabke. Poem and beatitude used by permission. Many thanks to Bill Klein for his performance of “Simple Gifts” as well as engineering (and cheering me on).
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Bethany says
What beautiful readings, Laurie, thank you. I’m particularly struck by several phrases in the beatitude about those who have known grief.
“they shall be intimate
with the hearts of all beings, they shall laugh
with vast joy . . .
They shall know the necessity of compassion.”
This resonates with me. And I must say, compassion is such precious treasure these days. (In any days, really.)
Laurie Klein says
Bethany, I agree wholeheartedly that compassion seems increasingly rare and precious.
Your comments sent me back to the poem and beatitude for another read. I am freshly struck by the active, practical ways a small act powered by human mercy extends and seeks to mend all in its path.
Thank you for reminding me.