Redwing Blackbird

By Allison Adelle Hedge Coke b. 1958 Allison Adelle Hedge Coke

Feet firmly perch

thinnest stalks, reeds, bulrush.

Until all at once, they attend my

female form, streaked throat, brownness.

Three fly equidistant

around me, flashing.

Each, in turn, calls territorial

trills, beckons ok-a-li, ok-a-li!

Spreads his wings, extends

inner muscle quivering red

epaulet bands uniquely bolden.

Turn away each suitor,

mind myself my audience.

Select another to consider,

He in turn quiver thrills.

Leave for insects.

Perhaps one male follows.

Maybe a few brood of young,

line summertime.

Silver Maple samaras

wing wind, spread clusters

along with mine, renewing Prairie.

As summer closes, I leave

dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies,

mosquitoes, moths, spiders, crickets for

grain, see, Sunflower;

join thousands to flock Sky—

grackles, blackbirds, cowbirds, starlings—

Swarming like distant smoke clouds, rising.

Source: Blood Run (Salt Publishing, 2006)

Biography

Of Cherokee, Huron, Eastern Tsalagi, French Canadian, and European descent, poet and educator Allison Adelle Hedge Coke grew up in North Carolina, Texas, Canada, and the Great Plains region. She attended North Carolina State University and earned an AFAW in creative writing from the Institute for American Indian Arts and an MFA from Vermont College. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Year of the Rat (1996); the full-length . . .

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