Bird Ballet: a poem
small brown birds swarm flit
yellow flash here
black eye stripe there
warblers finches chickadees
quiet busy zip
vine shrub pine tree
they follow winter’s first rains
flee cold down mountainsides coast
numbers protect
small boy and I watch
nose to window
white droplets catch light–
more rain or even snow?
no, a torrent of insects
float glide antlike insects
wings don’t flap
yellow warbler loops by
snatches one in flight
a bit of wind brings meals in view
too many for the resident black phoebe
townsends audubons goldfinch
swoop in
insect downpour done
bird ballet over
no encore
we leave our seats
I found this poem a week or two ago when my Mac laptop crashed and I returned to use a laptop I borrowed 2 years ago. I”ve done some editing on it and will likely do more…it doesn’t do justice to the image of these odd insects & birds …the surprise we felt. I think it’s over edited right now.
BTW, if you’re wondering what happened to the meme about 4 things a beginning poet should avoid or do, I’m still working on it!! My post was lost 2x to cyberspace and haven’t had the chance or the heart to do it again. Watch for the 2 incomplete posts (Tag I’m It & Art City) in the next few days…
as always, in search of that which engages the whole soul,
the art predator
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you know what’s amazing about this poem is it creates such a profound sense of being there, it almost evokes smell and breeze upon the skin and the sounds echoing in the ear. wonderfully done.
I agree with Rhian, wonderfully done.
I don’t think it’s overedited at all! The picture is wonderfully clear and vivid, full of motion.
I almost feel like running from those insects!!