Doxology
Perched in the ash, topmost twig,
the oriole, orange as a sweat-drop fallen
from the sun, entices his giant twin, blazing
on the horizon, with hymns of praise.
His cooler cousin, the meadowlark,
bides low in the fence-row brush, saves
his yellow praise for the fully risen star.
Oriole, sun, and meadowlark
from whom all blessings flow:
what is this human urge
to slaughter deity?
Who will summon the day
when these small gods are gone?
Sherry Chandler’s first full-length poetry collection, Weaving a New Eden, was released by Wind Publications in March 2011. She’s had professional development support from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the editors of qarrtsiluni nominated her poem “Relics” for a Pushcart Prize. Her work is most recently published in Calyx, The William and Mary Review, and The Cortland Review. She blogs at SherryChandler.com and posts micropoetry as the Bluegrass Poet.
qarrtsiluni 
Oh, wow, this is fantastic.
Beautiful work. What a surprising finish.
Sherry’s usual fine touch! Love the way the ending arises so naturally. Love “orange as a sweat drop fallen / from the sun” —
Lovely poem–I too was drawn by the line “orange as a sweat drop fallen/from the sun,” which Mary Agner quoted on her blog. Coming to the poem, I find the whole thing a beautiful, bright meditation. I like that the meadowlark “saves / his yellow praise for the fully risen star.” Beautiful.
A beautiful poem, Sherry. Thank you.
Thank you, all of you. This poem is near to my heart.
Wonderful to hear you reading this, Sherry. Oh, we had such an abundance of riches to choose from. What lucky editors we were!
Love the poem and the ending – the poem provides both the aesthetic delight and the wished-for nugget. My favorite line is
the oriole, orange as a sweat-drop fallen
from the sun
Belated thanks to Laurie and to Fiona — it’s a marvelous issue.