“Streamers” by Mark Smith-Soto

Mark Smith-Soto

STREAMERS

I caught this morning, mourning, sight
of you who flew into sky
you thought your own

and caught the sun down
to the marrow bones, tender embers
scorched there, sputter-guttered there—

let your blackened, blown feathers
fan our rage, outrage us, and now, here,
engage, oh, engage

our careworn careless care—
flame on, flame on you seared ones,
dear ones, you,

take us by the heart, make us see
the light

Poets Respond
August 25, 2014

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Mark Smith-Soto: “With all the sorrow in the news these days, you’d think the story of birds being ignited in flight by solar plants out in California would not particularly catch the eye. But maybe because I have long believed that harnessing solar energy is a very positive thing we can do for the environment, it did hit me hard, and made me angry that we can be so carelessly cruel in carrying out our good intentions. Hopkins’ “Windhover” then came to mind and inspired the poem.” (webpage)

Note: This poem has been published exclusively online as part of a new project in which poets respond to current events. A poem written within the last week about an event that occurred within the last week will appear every Sunday at Rattle.com—and this week we’ve decide to publish a bonus poem on Monday, as well. Our only criterion for selection is the quality of the poem, not its editorial position; any opinions expressed are solely those of the poet and do not necessarily reflect those of Rattle’s editors. To read poems from past weeks, visit the Poets Respond page. To have your own poem considered for next week’s posting, submit it here before midnight Friday PST. 

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