A Sudden Arrival

The east wind—direction of spring, dawn and rebirth—brings an eagle,

white tail feathers and head ablaze against dirty March snow.

Out of nowhere, it touches down on a highway guardrail,

then lifts off directly in our path. Penobscot Nation members believe

an eagle comes to teach and only when you are ready to learn.

With Mount Katahdin’s snowy peak to our left, the forest to our right,

we ride on in silence on the day of my dad’s death. Endless asphalt

stretches snake-like before us. Like the eagle, word of my father’s death

had come earlier that morning, and each time I close my eyes, I remember

the startled cry, the blaze of sun on ice-capped snow.

A bridge between heaven and earth, the eagle reminds us to love the shadow

as much as the light. Sacred messenger, it carries our prayers to all that is Spirit.

With each passing mile, I summon the courage the eagle carries.