Four Sacred Directions 2002 by Drea
Life is an ever changing thing, be it seasons, direction, or age.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/four-sacred-directions-2002-drea-jensen.html

Red Bird Explains Himself
By Mary Oliver

“Yes, I was the brilliance floating over the snow
and I was the song in the summer leaves, but this was
only the first trick
I had hold of among my other mythologies,
for I also knew obedience: bringing sticks to the nest,
food to the young, kisses to my bride.

But don’t stop there, stay with me: listen.

If I was the song that entered your heart
then I was the music of your heart, that you wanted and needed,
and thus the wilderness bloomed there, with all its
followers: gardeners, lovers, people who weep
for the death of rivers.

And this was my true task, to be the
music of the body. Do you understand? For truly the body needs
a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this body work,
the soul has need of a body,
and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable
beauty of heaven
where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes,
and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.”