The Dark Birds
By Bert Meyers
The dark birds came,
I didn’t know their name.
They walked in Hebrew on the sand
so I’d understand.
They sang, the sea flowed,
though no one made a road.
I shivered on the shore
when the water closed its door.
Then as I felt the birds return
to me like ashes to an urn,
and sunlight warmed the stones,
fire undressed my bones.
Notes:
“The Dark Birds” was originally published in The Dark Birds (Double Day and Company, 1968) and is reprinted with permission of Daniel Meyers. For more information about Bert Meyers, please visit bertmeyers.com
This poem is part of the portfolio “Bert Meyers: A Gardener in Paradise.” Read the rest of the portfolio in the January 2023 issue of Poetry.
Source:
Poetry
(January 2023)
