BLACKBIRDS

BLACKBIRDS

Blackbirds struggle in desperation
Circle over the blue river
Across green pastures
Now the worms death-bed
Fallen berries
Work in the cycle of decay.
They cut a path through the gorge
Bracketed by the mountains
Anemic trees on either side
Their habits and instincts
Endowed by what they cannot label.
In the wayward meaning of loss
And success they leave the climbing snow
For New Zealand or Africa
In liaison with the seasons
Warble in variations
As they crowd the sky.

Arnal Kennedy

ELATION

ELATION

God, I have sought you with elation
Beside eager people of good intention.
Those who mine your veins of
Communion in a stain glass church.
We are not outside any part of you.
Meanwhile, there are children with
Hands on hips who prance through
The fire hydrants spray. Near them,
In a vacant lot, sitting on a wreck,
Are adolescent lovers who believe in
Promise like a strawberry horizon.
Can you see with awe and under-
Standing a hopeful world? Undeniable,
There is his mark; to embellish this
Reflection of an active life is a
Posthumous work still in progress.

Arnal Kennedy