Becoming – Rosalind Brenner

Snowy owl will be your disguise

when you escape this cage.

You will be grateful you were once alive

though many died and you grew solitary.

A torn black band tied to your wing

kept you from flight. But now,

it’s time to leave your perch.

You’ll marry the wind.

Nourish red Echinacea,

brighten orange and yellow Rudbekia

leaning into the sun’s nourishment.

Your loam will feed Montauk Daisies,

pale blue-grey in afternoon shadows’ summer light.

The air will flood the fields with memories

of your prostrations before your garden Buddha

while strangers steward this house,

the tides, the bay.

In spring, you’ll be the invisible moment

buds burst to flower.

You will know what lurks beyond the door

that opens when we vanish.

As hell on earth rages merciless,

you will wish you could return,

teach humans you have seen

they are the makers

of their own torment. You’ll wish

you could show them how

to lift the fog that obviates compassion

in the bit of time they have.

Rosalind Brenner is a poet and visual artist living in East Hampton, NY. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals and in the chapbooks, Omega’s Garden and All That’s Left. Her paintings are shown in New York and Chicago. You can find out more about Rosalind at rosalindbrenner.com