When you open the door

(sweater pulled tight)

it's the sound that greets your senses:

red-shouldered blackbirds

(two thousand strong)

A mob that needs no encouragement to fill the air with a cacophony of song, no two birds holding the same key, no two birds singing the same note

SPLISH, WHOOSH, DRIP DRIP DRIP

From there, it is the breaking dawn and first heat of day playing on ear lobes

The slow ignition of sunlight on Cottonwoods and the chartreuse glow of Don Redwoods

The breeze low and brisk, the cattails humming a threshing tune

Your shoulders stretch and warm, pulling, releasing

SPLISH, WHOOSH, DRIP DRIP DRIP

Too late for blackberries

(shriveled and dry)

Too early for elder berries

(although I did try)

So I set into a rhythm of nourishment through knowledge

Examining the handiwork of beavers

(toothy-work? mouthy-work?)

And the clever nests of swallows

SPLISH, WHOOSH, DRIP DRIP DRIP

Soon the river bends, flows, snaps, flashes

Phoebes take advantage of solitary snags to sing their heart-song

(an ocean-sized soul in a two-pound package)

Egrets turn a wary eye

(knobby knees and delicate throats)

Canada Geese bumble and preen while the natives roll their eyes.

And I

well

I am one of the natives.

I've sunk my feet into these muddy banks

Trailed fingers through the algean waters

I know these scents like I know my skin

I've called this place home

And I mean it still.

SPLISH, WHOOSH, DRIP DRIP DRIP

SPLISH, WHOOSH, DRIP DRIP DRIP

SPLISH

WHOOSH

DRIP

DRIP

DRIP