Mhùkwinùnt Pe Asuwit
Between burnt
tuwchalakwm stumps,
he jumps,
bristles in predator stride.
He pounces out of ash,
heat-cracked wood,
upon gravel.
Stalking shadows,
invisible prey,
like the predators
we dream ourselves to be.
His song,
coaxed forth
by blood
coloured feathers,
deep chested
cuts through
heavy air,
ripples
with polyphonic
edges of melody,
flows widely
in search of
an unanswered
duet
Copyright © 2026 by D. A. Lockhart. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 11, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.
“‘In Lenape culture, birds are messengers from the divine. So much of my work deals with surviving colonization and its attendant problems. This poem comes from a walk in the woods of southern Ontario and coming upon a clearing in which a prescribed burn had been done. The appearance of the bright red bird against the ashen backdrop became a symbol for surviving the burning forests and collapsing ecosystems of our world, a depiction of resilience. The title of this piece translates to ‘Cardinal Song’ from Unami Lenape and itself acts a birdsong in the reader’s mind.’”
—D. A. Lockhart
D. A. Lockhart
