Where Eagles Perch

Living a wild(er) life

Hello, High-Flyers!

On New Year’s Day, I took a long walk by the Willamette River and was rewarded with seeing three different bald eagles and hearing at least two more. In Tuesday’s post, members got to hear the soundscape I made from that walk. Today’s haiku were all inspired by what I saw on that walk. There is one more comic in this series that you will have to wait and see. It’s going to be part of a collaboration several Substackers are working on, SALON DU MONDE, FREMONT, Episode 3. The first two episodes are available on

Miter

’s excellent newsletter,

Washed Memoir in Real Time

.

As a reminder, I’m now publishing member posts on Tuesdays and free posts on Fridays. I’m putting more comics in each post so you are getting more poetry comics each week while hearing from less often.

eagles screech warnings
at trio of ducks flying
too close for comfort

across the river, 
eagles trill at each other
their new year's greetings

juvenile eagle
squawks about his solitude
while looking for fish

Where Eagles Perch

At age 14, I was a Boy Scout and earned the organization’s highest rank, Eagle Scout. I was awarded the rank at a court of honor that ran much too long for my taste and required me to pretend to be interested in all the hoopla. The best thing about the entire affair was that my grandmother gave me a painting she painted to commemorate my achievement.

I still have the painting in the frame she put it in, and it hangs on the wall of my house right outside my studio:

Having lived in the western United States for most of my life, I’ve seen plenty of bald eagles. However, on that New Year’s Day walk, I got closer to wild eagles than I ever thought possible.

One of my intentions this year is to live as my true self. For too long I’ve lived only a half-life, hiding parts of my personality and shying away from fully expressing my creative ideas.

Seeing the eagles perched up hundreds of feet in the trees, watching. the river and calling to their fellow birds across the way felt like a signal from the divine that I need to live a wilder life—one that is both closer to nature and less constrained by the choices of others.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a glorious year. I have to go now, I need to spread my wings and soar over the river for a bit.

Be the weird you want to see in the world!

Cheers,

Jason