Self-Portrait as Hoot Owl

Posted on March 4, 2019 by robert okaji

Self-Portrait as Hoot Owl

Who do you think I am, what will
grace serve, where in this moonless
void might you lie, can we echo
through the hours and never attach
ourselves to one discernable tree?
Is query my only song? Is sadness
yours? Wrapped around these
priceless silhouettes, our voices
merge downhill near the creek’s
rustle, below the seeping clouds
and stars yet somehow above the
night and tomorrow’s slow ascent
into more questions, more doubt.

* * *

“Self-Portrait as Hoot Owl” first appeared in Issue 125 of Right Hand Pointing. Thank you to editors Dale Wisely, Laura M. Kaminski, F. John Sharp and José Angel Araguz for taking this piece.

19 thoughts on “Self-Portrait as Hoot Owl”

Kathy Boles-Turner on March 3, 2019 at 11:05 am said:

below the seeping clouds
and stars yet somehow above the
night and tomorrow’s slow ascent
into more questions, more doubt.

Wow. ❤

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:04 pm said:
  
  I seem to spend more and more time in that ascent!
  
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trE on March 3, 2019 at 11:20 am said:

Short and powerful. Always a pleasure, Robert.

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:04 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Tre! 🙂
  
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  - trE on March 3, 2019 at 4:21 pm said:
    
    You are very much welcome!
    
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ebbtide on March 3, 2019 at 11:57 am said:

This is wonderful!

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:05 pm said:
  
  Thank you, Sarah!
  
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stephanielharper on March 3, 2019 at 12:12 pm said:

I love this portrait of you! Your queries are life-affirming. May every answer you come by beget more questions!

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:06 pm said:
  
  The questions keep coming!
  
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Jazz Jaeschke on March 3, 2019 at 3:16 pm said:

Perhaps the owl is considered wise precisely because all it offers is question upon question upon … endless … Great title to this poem.Your poetry generates questions within this reader (thank you!)

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:07 pm said:
  
  I have so few answers, and those I find lead to more questions!
  
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In mind and out on March 3, 2019 at 3:28 pm said:

Some poems render me speechless, and this is one of them. I can’t say enough how beautiful I found this.

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- robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 4:08 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much! You have made my day!
  
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  - In mind and out on March 3, 2019 at 5:13 pm said:
    
    Great, making your day makes my day.
    
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    - robert okaji on March 3, 2019 at 5:51 pm said:
      
      😊
      
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Carrie Birde on March 4, 2019 at 8:06 am said:

❤️ 💔 ❤️

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- robert okaji on March 4, 2019 at 9:35 am said:
  
  🙂
  
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smzang on March 4, 2019 at 6:32 pm said:

I absolutely love it!!

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- robert okaji on March 4, 2019 at 7:36 pm said:
  
  Thank you!
  
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  Reply ↓

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