Hummers, butterflies, & pigeons

By Barry Vitcov

Several times a day I walk through North Mountain Park and notice flight of all sorts. Birds and insects enjoy this Ashland treasure as much as those who enjoy observing them. Birders are often taking inventory while young children chase and laugh at elusive, fluttering butterflies. Jill Rothman’s poem “Pigeon Play and Wisdom” connects memories and experience with silliness and resilience. Laurel Winter’s short poem “The Mountains Still Exist Behind All This” grounds us with the truth of the everyday and the larger reality.

Pigeon Play and Wisdom

By Jill Rothman

She grew up amidst pigeons,
not quite raised by them,
like a child with wolves,
but living amongst them,
knowing their flair for adaptation,
their resilience.

And now,
here in Central Point, Oregon,
she sees them,
on the tallest and most slanted rooftop.
The pigeons sitting at the pinnacle,
fall asleep, without consequence
and linger, and dream.
The hundred, or so, on the steep slant,
fall asleep, in the late afternoon sun,
and instantly slide, almost all together,
creating a cascade, a waterfall of pigeons,
over and over, again,

As they reroost, snooze, cascade,
reroost, snooze, cascade,
She is reminded of the time,
in her youth,
during a downpour,
when she slept under a bridge,
on a steep gravel slant,
with her boyfriend,
each in sleeping bags,
each having to wake,
every hour or so,
after sliding,
to climb to the top
before hitting the stream
at the bottom,
over and over
sleep, slide, climb,
sleep, slide, climb.

The pigeon waterfall
on the Central Point roof
reminds her how adventuresome,
silly and resilient
she learned to be,
living amongst pigeons.

Jill Rothman was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan; Antioch in Yellow Springs, Ohio; and has a master’s from Southern Oregon University. She is a poet, a writer, a painter, a creator of a successful greeting card line (onewomansart.com), a singer, a songwriter and more and less than that. Her family, friends and students are her treasures. Jill has had a thrilling and varied teaching career and taught in Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and for many years at Briscoe School in Ashland, Oregon. She sang jazz standards in clubs, performed with the Siskiyou Singers, the SOU Jazz Choir, Rogue World Ensemble and Plain Folk for a total of decades. For nine years, she has been living in Talent, Oregon, after 33 years of living and creating in Ashland, Oregon.

The Mountains Still Exist Behind All This

By Laurel Winter

Hummers divebomb each other over the mimosa.
(This tree ain’t big enough for the both of us.)
Pink and yellow flowers, exotic fern-like leaves.
A butterfly, drunk on nectar and beauty, flutters madly.
Mimosa is invasive.
The bamboo edging my yard tries to escape,
runners reaching for new territory.
There could be worse problems.

Laurel Winter grew up (to the extent that she did) in the mountains of Montana. She writes poetry, fiction of all lengths and plays of the 10-minute variety. She’s won a World Fantasy Award and a McKnight Artist Fellowship for children’s fiction and “egg horror poem,” won two awards and has earned more than $2,000 so far. (Two eggs were harmed in the making of this poem.) Her middle-grade novel, “Growing Wings,” was a finalist for a Mythopoeic Award. She likes to play games. She has twin sons, three grandchildren and a passion for reading and playing games.

Poetry Submissions Welcomed!

You are invited to submit original work to the Poetry Corner. There are only two restrictions: First, poems need to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose! Second, poems need to be aligned to the left margin. The publishing platform used by Ashland.news has issues with the creative use of space! There are no length restrictions but try to keep your poems to no more than 30 lines. Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns.

To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at [email protected].

Dec. 16: Corrected submission email address.