YELLOW-BIRD
Liberty Hyde Bailey.
Yellow-bird and yellow-bird, you and I
Were friends and good friends in the days gone by—
We teetered away so high up and high
Upward and downward out under the sky.
Ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
The meadows and meadows for you and for me.
Often and oft in the blue summer day
Long have I lain on the wagons of hay
And followed you bounding ’way and away
Till my soul and soul no longer could stay.
Ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
The sky and the sky is unhampered and free.
Slowly and slow in the midsummer’s rest
In sun of the east and heats of the west
I’ve tiptoed away in wonder-bound quest
To your sky-tinged eggs and thistle-down nest.
Ka-.chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
There are none so ready and ready as we.
Copse-land and garden in winter and late
I sight you in crews of gray-brown and slate—
And May-month and June in prouder estate
All golden and jet with a gray-brown mate.
Ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
I wonder and wonder what kith you may be.
Days-end and days-end and closing of gloam
Stilled heights of far sky and clouds white as foam
I lie on my back and under the dome
You twinkle your wings and drop away home.
Ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
The night and the night and we ever are three.
Yellow-bird and yellow-bird, you and I
Still are friends and friends as the days go by
And away we gallop so high and high
From tree-top to tree-top under the sky.
Ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee, ka-chèe-ka-ka-kee
I fly and I fly to the hills and the sea.
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Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith
Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith
and the life of the church."
-Karen Swallow Prior
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C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
