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End of Summer
It’s said that one alone don’t make a Summer
but when there’s none at all, is that when Summer’s gone?
And when there’s nothing up there but a shimmer
of dust from the desert superheated by the sun;
and when the sheds and barns remain in silence
from April to October; when radiance that shone
on midge-full fields no longer flicks on mindless
scything wings and sideslippings ...
Saturday 15th June 2024 9:26 am
Free the bird
Once I bought a bird in a shop
I opened the cage and let him be
For a flying happiness I’d hope
To let the stars witness it’s free
Sunday 19th May 2024 2:51 am
A Little Bird
He belted his little heart out
Same time every day
It lasted for hours and hours
But still…
She does not come.
I shouted out to the little bird
“Why not perch on another tree?”
“I was calling out to you…”
the little bird replied,
“To keep that smile on your face.”
Wednesday 17th April 2024 6:25 pm
Broken wings
Feathers stuck in the cage
Yet melody that soothes
Watching her flying friends
Spreading wings in the sky stage
Giving the luxury life
With food and shelter
No worries of hunt or hunter
Living with the broken wings alive
Saturday 3rd February 2024 9:50 am
Birds
Each time that I observe the world,
I should spy beauty, peace and love.
Each time I listen, I should hear
The soft song of birds, or at most
The low hum of conversation.
But when I crane my neck,
Look up, down or sideways,
In front or behind me,
Or at some frantic screen,
Or catch imagined exploits,
Mouthed off on a train, or neighbours,
Hyped up in angry gatepos...
Thursday 7th December 2023 8:44 am
Loch Garten volunteer
“The birds will wake you up!” they said.
I’d doubted that, but yes, it’s true -
no sooner have the stars all fled
than osprey cries come piercing through
the speaker in the wooden shed
that guards the tree where they have bred
for many years, successfully bred.
This week I’ve more than filled my quota
of opening up the eyes of tourists.
Last night was my slot on the...
Wednesday 14th June 2023 4:15 pm
How long will we have to wait?
How long will we have to wait?
We line the cliff top path.
Below, the breakers resonate
and jubilant kittiwakes laugh.
We question one of the volunteer staff,
“How long will we have to wait?”
“How long will you have to wait?”
She smiles and makes it clear:
yesterday it was ten to eight,
Thursday, not here -
or so they think - it didn’t appear!
“How long ca...
Sunday 11th June 2023 8:01 am
My fantasy bird table
I’m putting out some food on my fantasy bird table
hoping to attract my all-time favourite birds.
The first to arrive are the ones that used my first table:
robins, tits, and blackbirds that nested in the woods.
The flock that follows them are the best I’ve seen in Britain:
a ptarmigan, an osprey, a dotterel and a smew,
a bearded tit, a peregrine, a puffin and a bittern
...Friday 9th June 2023 12:34 pm
The lure
Looping round till it’s a blur
the falconer swings the weighted lure
beneath the bird, enticing her
to go into a stoop.
With hooking bill and crookéd claw
and plunging like a meteor
she swipes the fakery to the floor
with a vicious slap of feathers.
Around the crowd, a communal gasp.
The predator’s grappling in its clasp
the prize, but is the bird a...
Friday 26th May 2023 4:52 pm
The minstrel of the meadow
The balance of life and death
rests on a dot in the sky
whose frivolous shivering breath
rivals the moths in its quivering
rippling hovering, high
and triumphant amongst the cumulus,
the twin-piping syrinx delivering
an opus more complex, more tremulous
and vaporous than any cantata.
The minstrel of the meadow
sees the grasshopper climbing,
sees the froghopper fal...
Saturday 20th May 2023 10:09 pm
The shock of silence
A colony of terns concedes no paucity
of energy: the strident racket rising
in steep vociferous steps
envelopes your whole mind as if by sorcery.
But one event might strike you as surprising:
now and then - untold by any augury
and with no cause - it stops.
A rigid talon grips the atmosphere
and sound shuts down, as though there’s been a sudden
resetting of the wi...
Wednesday 17th May 2023 12:41 pm
Beauty in Bass Rock
A shining stone on the horizon.
In a stunning world, it does it’s bit.
You may find it surprising,
This beauty is just shit.
Or guano to be more correct,
Though crap it is to most.
It beckons me to come inspect,
Though I’d rather not get close.
It catches me slumped in blue,
When chuckles are more sparse.
Cheers me to think that such a view
Came from ma...
Saturday 29th April 2023 10:32 am
Still Waters
Birds of a feather flock together
Sitting in my stillness whilst the outside world continues to move in it's very own ebb and flow.
Sunday 5th February 2023 3:54 am
Bird Flew
There was a young girl from peru
Who loved a cockatoo…
She then met a raven
Started misbehavin'
And off the cockatoo flew!
Wednesday 22nd June 2022 8:18 pm
Hoopoe
I
Sixty tonne of metal bellowing down the sky
assails the quietude
of reeds and muddy pools
where spoonbills sift through sludge and seagulls drift nearby.
The mouth of the Ria Formosa’s a birders’ paradise:
miles of salt pans hosting
birds of low-lying coastline,
in thousands upon thousands. It’s Eden beyond price
in every way but one: the fence of Faro A...
Wednesday 19th May 2021 2:15 pm
BLESSED DOVE
White oh so pure rare delight
asking for signs snow white doves close in flight
Beauty and love serenity and peace
I wish in your life from my heart doves release
Wednesday 13th January 2021 2:59 pm
The Grammy goes to...
eager crickets sing in chorus
at the top of their lungs
gusts rustle leaflets
in the string section of dwarf palms
nervous gnat raises his falsetto
as high as he can
dragonfly’s baritone buzz
upstages her wingspan
pileated woodpecker plays his pine
keeping on the beat
tufted titmouse takes her tenor solo
melodic and neat
wi...
Friday 4th December 2020 8:57 pm
Overwinter Under Wing
To long for the tall and rounded neck
Of the swan overwintering.
To wind it round all snug and warm,
Tucked and sheltered under wing.
To see me through to daffodils,
When the long nights up and scarper.
But first the wind will undress trees
And its bite will get much sharper
For now the song has dimmed to still
And the sun just won’t stay put.
The air is g...
Sunday 18th October 2020 6:18 pm
Thrush
Folk have too much time on their hands
This mad lockdown's stoking mischief
Families living on top of each other
From bad neighbours there's no relief
They put up a new bird table next door
State of the art, four feeders on a pole
Luring all the birds from my garden
It was my finches and robins they stole
I was unable to sleep at the shock
Worried almost out of...
Friday 12th June 2020 11:22 am
Blackbird Mother
My wings are brown, not black and shiny.
I'm always peeping out through leaves.
I try and keep above the fear trilling below,
I know they are ingesting bitter roots.
And yet I swallow their song all the same.
The empty smoke of hope that arises,
as I am the Blackbird mother sitting,
gathering material and protecting you,
refined in pointless expectation.
I am a gust of failure that ruins,
...
Tuesday 18th June 2019 4:00 pm
Black Confetti
Blackened balls of confetti thrown against a slate sky
From left, from right, lines and angles they fly
Boiling clouds shuffle, sculp then conform
In kaleidoscopic monochrome; is this the start of a storm?
The mass absorbs and swells like translucent dough
An invisible baker, kneads, stretches and throws
And the amorphous miasma continues to grow
As eyes in wonderment gaz...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:18 pm
Fight! Fight!
The magpies
nesting in the beech
began shouting
angry
to see a squirrel
in their tree
Attracted
like bad boys in the playground
more magpies
joined in
hopping from branch to branch
a harsh chatter
of anger
The squirrel
preferring a quiet life
left
by way of my garden
wall
Today the tree is silent
Friday 5th April 2019 3:41 pm
Writer's Block
When you get writer's block
go for a walk
find a friend
have a talk
blow bubbles
spin a top
count stars
watch birds flock
whatever you do
don't stare
at a blank page
as the clock
goes tick-tock.
Thursday 3rd January 2019 12:58 pm
A Million Ordinaries
I’m ordinary and that’s ok
Extraordinary is made of
A million ordinaries anyway
I can feel Magnolia
Reflecting sheen
From her glossy dark leaves
It’s early afternoon
Rays warm my left shoulder
My car window lets just enough in
The faint rattle in my back seat
Plays a bridge
To the melody of my AC
The turns of my car, so familiar
The rout...
Thursday 25th October 2018 1:51 am
cut out my lungs (you stole my breath)
my breath left me
on a day of cold and color
against your turned back
white face, white mist
under the beat of your wings
singing the song of the swan
snow falls down
through a world of stolen breath
a feather finds its way
beside a snowflake
curled in my palm
i wish on a white and silent world
that you would take my heart
the way you took my lungs
...
Sunday 11th March 2018 7:20 pm
Charlie & Marley
They sit in the toilet and squak
my mother still thinks that they'll talk
They love each other
their sister and brother
and have beaks as sharp as a hawk
They are green and yellow and blue
they watch you in the loo
but if you take a bath
they'll have a laugh
cause they'll cover you up in their poo
it's been 3 years since they were born
They feed on mostly sweet ...
Monday 12th February 2018 12:38 pm
Autumn
And then, suddenly, it was calm - the morning wind which threw
rain hard against the window panes and sent beech leaves rushing
across the grass to pile gold-brown against all that the borders grew,
all slowly dulling their greens to wet, muted browns, brushing
the soil as their leaves curl and droop - vibrant Spring-strength gone,
fading sadly.
The wind ...
Wednesday 11th October 2017 10:50 am
Where Are The Skydancers?
I set off on a ramble through the Forest of Bowland
binoculars at the ready, a bird book to hand.
I hope to see some species that don't breed in the lowlands,
hen harriers and short eared owls, quartering the land.
My list has pipits, crows and jackdaws,
grouse in surplus but no raptors.
I tick off golden plover, curlew and wheatear
but where are the skydancers?
THEY'RE ...
Saturday 5th August 2017 10:48 am
Two bird poems
Heron Taking Flight
Rickety, this ruckle
of struts and ragged canvas,
a collapsing tent
of awkwardness
unmade by the earth,
by degrees cranks into
its one true element:
slipping tethers
into air.
________
Preliminary Findings
Preliminary findings
suggest a probable
leakage of fuel
before the tank exploded.
(Cockpit not located
at th...
Friday 3rd March 2017 11:52 am
From Where I Sit: Music and Movement
A small flock of unidentified birds
flies into the skeleton trees
and disappears.
What magic is this?
Smoke from the boiler-house chimney,
at the mercy of the fickle wind,
blows this way and that, confused
unstopping, white, following the music
of Mozart's violins: moving, then still
- a crescendo starts to build -
- falls away to keen -
- a lull -
...
Saturday 4th June 2016 1:02 pm
Flying My Birds
I fly the birds around this place
We chat amongst the trees
The wildlife up in this place
Contains a rainbow breeze.
The truth rises to the top
A quiet frozen mountain
I fly my birds up to the top
To chat and to surround it.
Discussing the monopoly,
Folks with greed in mind--
I'm the messenger of truth
Sending my birds to fly.
The Greed-ridden dictators
Own...
Thursday 14th April 2016 5:18 am
This bird
Look at this thing, this gruesome thing, this shake-off from the slick.
A car mechanic’s rag, a bag of bile, a doodling hand that drags
a biro clot of crudeness up the beach.
This foul-up. This bird. This broken component of our world.
Then look at that: a flesh gorged kite, circling
while cluster bombs slake a starving nation’s soil.
America’s pin puckered vein, the fight for th...
Tuesday 1st December 2015 12:55 pm
close to the twighlight
On a hot summers eve close to the twighlight,
the marble of crimson came rolling down past sight.
Misty clouds coating the ever changing sky.
birds whistle their last tune before slumber calls them.
Stars begin to light.
Soon it will be night.
Close to the twighlight.
Monday 17th August 2015 8:03 pm
memories
Swaying flowers,
passing hours,
birds in evergreens
happy smiles,
worth your whiles
and sappy little trees
muddy faces,
fraying laces,
and a gentle summer breeze
swaying flowers,
passing hours,
making memories
Wednesday 29th July 2015 4:09 pm
Humming bird
Humming bird, buzzing bird
flying high, oh so absurd.
how i wish i flew to see the forming dew
then left another morning new.
there will be room for you.
on the star we'll fly so high
over, under, in the sky.
singing fairies lulabies.
watching rolling tides.
flying slow flying low,
over swaying medows
seeking stars that glow,
then going home.
T...
Wednesday 8th July 2015 4:07 pm
MIST ON THE MENAI
There's mist on the Menai
There's geese in the sky
There's snow on the Mountains
As the mist rolls on by
It runs from the Swellies
To the Irish Sea
The mist on the Menai
Majestic and free
From the banks of the Briant
To Caernarfon's great ramparts
To the edge of the Llyn
Hear the Waders and Redstarts
There's mist on the Menai
Not a cloud in the sky
Th...
Monday 8th June 2015 3:57 pm
WOODLAND WONDER
WOODLAND WONDER
Gently caressed by the breath of the breeze,
branches sway atop tall lofty trees.
Restless leaves, to gnarled fingers, cling
wondering what freshness the new day will bring.
Hopping about on long leafy arms,
fluttering feathers displaying delicate charms.
Beautiful songbirds sing out their sweet melodies
in the grand performance of natures sweet harmony.
Bushy tailed...
Sunday 7th June 2015 10:17 am
Following The Birds
Ballad from my dream
September.15.1995 / September-7-2013
*Updated 2.20.2014*
Trisha M. Hopkins
I
Im enjoying my walk along outside
Enjoying the warm morning sun
Small animals begin to scurry and hide
Finally my work is done
Here comes some beautiful birds
I see them out of the corner of my eye
I try my hardest to them
But they are too far up in the blue sky
I begin to follow
This ...
Monday 9th February 2015 12:16 am
The rose bush
The fierce wind blows, yet the dew won't dry
On the petals of the lone rose blossom.
Sparse thorns stand raw, achy reminders
Of the wondrous lost dream of yesterday,
When the two golden birds sat on this branch
Staring into the infinite mirror of their eyes,
Rejoicing in the warmth of their evening song,
Delighting in each other's pure presence,
Basking in the divine light of Nature,
And ...
Wednesday 7th January 2015 11:22 pm
Migration
The geese ventured
Peace signs against the sky
Flocked victorious
Towards southern realms
The sun their prize.
Sunday 20th July 2014 10:23 pm
Quoth Both
My daughter brought a Jackdaw in the house
And grief introduced itself
Melancholic and wounded
It hunched in the corner of the room
She fed him her loving eyes
Bread in tweezers
And named him Poe
Then this sanctuary
Took him
She phoned every night
He was mending well and with the magpies...
He was in the biggest aviary...
He was set free.
But w...
Thursday 17th April 2014 1:52 am
Gulls
formed in v they fly
o’er top o’me
bellies, usually driven snow,
this morning
honey dipped in hiemal morning’s glow
til’ falling, scrap and skreel
fo’ morsels discarded
by genteel and boor
for there is no inequity
in commission to cloy the
ever open maw
Wednesday 27th November 2013 12:49 pm
Birds on High
I saw birds
flying high
in the sky.
I wanted to
join them but
I can't fly.
Sometimes I feel
low, and I
just want to cry.
My smile, for
you see it
is fake.
Cause my soul
it surely
does ache.
I look for
a glimpse of
peace, ...
Monday 24th June 2013 6:35 pm
Moor Music
The shrill piping call of the returning Curlew
Contrasting with the lonely peep- peep of Golden Plover
Plaintive note of Peewit carried on the wind from its arching flight
Wading birds reclaiming their share of the corduroy moorland
Nesting sites found on drier ground among ling and crowberry
Ascending notes of Skylark lift the spirit and raise hopes
Honk of Raven ...
Sunday 5th May 2013 2:44 pm
the king and queen
The king and queen are out today
Rip-roaring over edges
Making bulletpoints.
He takes her by the hand
“Fly with me – our eggs can last awhile
In your sweet absence!”
No dove's-tales for them.
Passion hard as arrows -
Flight an ecstasy, a ballet
As together they worship freedom.
Settling amongst a spangle of flowers
He feeds h...
Sunday 24th April 2011 1:00 pm
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