God knows i love creatures and has spoken through them to me since i was a kid. So today again was cool and chilling, as an adult barred owl flew literally three feet above my head (and I was praying, but that’s probably, beside the point). Owls are their own worlds (such silence they contain and restrain!)—had to, of course write a free verse napkin (or in this case paper receipt) prose poem about the moment, as i looked around to see what else was occurring. Creatures remind us to be observant and thankful i think—at least for me. Nature is one of God’s love languages for me. I don’t know if i know the language of owl, but hummingbird and coffee I’m sure i do…..and dusk and dawn are close friends of mine!

An owl passes over at dusk,
the old folk’s home, Elder Care, is empty across the street these days,
the next door neighbor’s daughter however, can now speak in yelps and sharper syllables, intoning by now, her dad’s name,
and some hebrew i tried to teach her so she could speak in tongues
to the birds and her mother- abba ima, her voice already said
cutting through all masks this evening, as Love’s
language itself continues to form in us just like that-across fences
and borders, cultures and tones of skin and evening’s colors again,
in, and through heart’s song alone.
And of course, coffee and,
the hummingbirds will return tomorrow in sync,
each hovering and darting in color through things– one as bird, another as bean fragrance of welcome to Day, i’m sure- along with Noah’s dove, we pray, may She find land soon, may we all find land soon…. and return with olives in our teeth..just
so this hummingbird can land (she barely needs a twig of Hope to hover on!),
and, plus, i’ll have a place to put my coffee forever-an eternal coaster
made of bone stone and star and stuff of daily us-ness-a branch of friendship extended forever;
as this flood recedes and we receive again
the sheer colors and definitions of the earth’s daily songs of glory
in small owl-like thanks which already occurred at dusk,
though this dawn is already dawning on us
may we recall who we are.

That is, just what it means
when an owl passes over us at dusk!