Linda Whittenberg

Visitation

This morning a lone Whooping Crane

entered my mind. It might have been

the very one I once saw standing knee-deep

at the edge of a pond at the Bosque 

bird sanctuary. It came with first light 

that washed over potted flowers,

wicker rocker on the porch

and spot-lighted him in his glory.

I felt that bird was coaxing me 

to put its elegant white body

here to be remembered

as one who flew far—

long wings, long neck

haunting call, one who,

like the one who used to rock

in that wicker chair,

gone forever

except in this poem.

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Linda Whittenberg‘s collection Somewhere in Ireland was launched at Listowel Writers’ Week in 2014. In 2021 she was featured in Trasna. Many trips to Ireland, home of her ancestors, have inspired her poems. Currently she makes her home in the Colorado Rockies.