The Bird Man: For: Larry Butler

A white American crane Lifted by winds of change Spread its wings and landed in Scotland A golden bird isn't made to stand alone Draws others under its wing. This one promulgated Poetry Healing, Developed Survivors' Poetry Lapidus, Arts on Prescription Waving hands like clouds He edited Move on up Catching the Dragon's Tail, published Stories of hope and recovery from addition Riding the Tiger He produced Games, Games Parting the Wild horses' Mane He wrote on Creative Therapy Produced a cookbook of Nibbles, creative approaches And Beowulf, verse script for the National Theatre Turning to Gaze at the Moon His poems are in Yuga Night Han Shan Everywhere He can stretch his Butterfly Bones and swim a loch Be sweet, be sour, be serious in turn He can scoop the sea one moment Play his Japanese bamboo flute in a tree This bird man paints the rainbow In silence and solitude By the lap lap lap of a wave Working the shuttles of words He leads strict Haiku sessions wordsof wellbeing Rengas, always drawing others in Pulling the bow, He runs a writing groupfor the Maggie Centre His sessions aim for a bullseye against a killer When the Wind Blows, the tree bends In Mind, Remind, Remember He wrote epitaphs and warnings For endangered plants and species As a white snake showing its tongue He looks into Better Health for Men Some weeks find him barefoot in Balquhidder Parting the waves with Chikung and Tai Chi This white American crane, This golden bird man What sets him apart from Glasgow's teeming throng? The sheer scope of his interests: Activism, protest, adventure Ageing, biography,memoir Childhood, death, bereavement Scapegoating, family, food Prejudice, addiction, alcoholism, Friendship wars and conflicts Loneliness, nature, isolation Mental Health, Wars and conflicts This white American crane This golden bird man Is a leader, a sharer, a carer A giver, a teacher, a mentor Catching the tail of the sparrow But gently, gently