Birds and Trees

Abstract

Birds and Trees Burt Kimmelman I do not know which to prefer,The beauty of inflectionsOr the beauty of innuendoes,The blackbird whistlingOr just after. —Wallace Stevens Start of Spring Naked branchesreaching intoa gray sky, Ihear a bird call across our smallvalley, the samecall from somewhereelse, once again. Mid-April Evening Still house, door lampsaglow, just one bird, then two birds—robins—scamper by, no strollers,it seems, at this hour of dusk,the evening’s grace. Morning, Late November Plaintive crowsdot the lacedbranches—arcs [End Page 243] of bare treesover roofs—a gray sky. [End Page 244] Burt Kimmelman Maplewood, New Jersey Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press