POEM OF THE MONTH
(not previously published)

BIRD LIFE
(Zoniënwoud)

The Phoenix rises
     majestically through the trees -
          a dazzling eyeball.

An airplane traces
     a silver plume in the sky -
          first bird of the day.

Long grass and nettles,
     shafts of sunlight through branches -
          the chorus begins.

Little jenny wren -
     in this rotten hollow birch
          you shall find a perch.

Far from the North Sea
     one feels like an old seagull
          with tarry feathers.

A hut in the woods -
     here one could be a hermit
          feasting on pheasant.

I gaze at the oak
     and someone tells me its name -
          two birds with one stone.

In our sitting-room
     a visitor makes her nest -
          Peace the mystic dove.