Painting by George Schneeman."Ron Padgett, Ted. Berrigan"
The Woodpecker Today ( prose-poem )
The wings of the red-headed woodpecker flashed white as he landed on the deck rail, well fed and magisterial, and rattled off a quick succession of pecks. Then he hopped and drilled again, paused and drilled. As I began to doubt that he would be rewarded for his efforts, he raised his head to the sky and turned his neck to his left, as if to receive a message. Then he sprang into the air and flew around the side of the house. There were two brief bursts of drilling, then silence.
While he had drilled the rail, I recalled an article that explained why woodpeckers don’t get headaches. Apparently their skulls are lined with a spongy material that cushions the shock, a structure that resembles that of a football helmet. In fact, the article stated, modern football helmet design owes something to the woodpecker. As these thoughts ran through my head, for a moment I saw a small helmet materialize on the woodpecker’s head — a silver Detroit Lions helmet. I hope he comes back. I would like to get the entire uniform on him.
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