The Oriole by the River

Image: origin unknown

The oriole chortling by the river

is so much more than simply a bird

glimpsed in the bush.

It is a never-again moment

witnessed,

and shared.

How can I not but feel split open?

I am an innocent,

but one who has willfully surrendered

my heart to Life’s intent to grow

each one of us into something

larger than the body can contain.

In saying - “Yes” - to whatever this is,

I have invited my own undoing.

Anything that has emerged from an

egg,

a seed,

a cocoon,

or a mother’s womb

knows the awe-full process of

breaking from confinement.

What pain.

What ecstasy.

Destiny lies in the way we view

the world when we first open our eyes.

We are so small in the context

of this big and bold and expansive

universe of possibility…

Question 1:

Will you succumb to fear,

crawling back into homespun captivity?

Or...

Question 2:

Will you choose to fully emerge,

embracing vulnerability as your savior?

I can’t help but wonder what that bird

thought when it first peered,

naked,

beyond the rim of its edgy nest cup.

Reflecting upon a moment

by a river,

I have such gratitude for its wings.

© 2012-2016/Jamie K. Reaser

From "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems" (www.hiraethpress.com) 

Feel free to share