Author Archives: Anne Birkam

The creep is onupwards of five to ten feetoutwards into the marshesberms fencesentangled withroot of bladdernuttrillium oak Even a ciotogends up flummoxedbewilderedhare in the headlightsinvading army ofseed and airtransported into anenemy territorywith no enemiesa wisp of thesilver tongue isall it needs to conquerthis dense thicketthis wily invaderis bane to theconservationistnaturalistleaner towards thebeneficial towasp and waxwingalikeContinue reading “Autumn Olive”

I hate the very thought of this relying on the throat of hissing judges who reside under the slaveowner’s gun – threaten a nail a finger a tongue I’d cry too Such little men- they need to brag autocracy is their lifeline to the stars which hang above us shining light onto the dark guidingContinue reading “Say anything”

They come- visitors with a bang, knocking on the door of this closed museum, no hours of operation will keep them home. Their sense of rule bewilders me, I would not sully your floor if you invited me inside your door. And no amount of anger would let me disrespect the desk where you workContinue reading “Tourists”

The patient – post operation Sleeps in the ICU Infection seeps all around her Will she make it through? And how much will she suffer Will she need blood to get by Can buffering keep her going Before she finally dies? The patient – she needs each one of us With a smooth and lovingContinue reading “America in Bedlam”

Oh lily, my lily, with bloom of brightest gold here for a while – then gone in the summer storm, but while you were here on the living breath did shine every bee the nectar inclined to better times such a cameo performance! strengthening all who feed history will not forget my golden lily –Continue reading “Captain Courageous”

There is a tomato I have grown, the great white, circumference perhaps four inches, color a yellow so pale you can almost see your face upon its skin. And when you slice and eat of it, then you know what greatness truly is. I am dreaming tomatoes these days, their colors range from the deepestContinue reading “Niobe in the mist”

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – Franklin Delano Roosevelt You know – there is a market for this – the selling of terror to the blanketContinue reading “The fear peddlers”

Activity abounds here. Once I saw a swan chasing a goose, with a trumpeting call she drew so close to him his feathers must have shivered. I stood watching and wondering what did this goose do to so enrage the swan? Goose, swan, human, we all figure into this landscape of unruly plants hiding allContinue reading “Sanctuary”

I too, don’t like it, this entry into the subterfuge – I know there is a laugh, a smile beyond what my eye can see and I long for return to a normalcy of seeing all of it – whether smirk or pout or goad. I too, am weary of this daily vigilance lest theContinue reading “Mask”