Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Revelation


That blackbird ...
Originally uploaded by goforchris.

Having recently learned
the shocking truth that
birds lose something like
a third of their weight
overnight, I look at
the puffball shape of a
round robin with new eyes.
Go for it, little one,
I whisper, madly, at the window,
smile encouragingly as tiny tits
hurl themselves at the table
where this morning's food is
piled, tut when the blackbird
and his wife - a sturdy wench
in brown - spend far too long
over breakfast and leave the
shivering siskins on the bare tree.
The snowy garden is swathed in
fog as another day in the deep freeze
begins, and I, insulated from reality,
imagine myself St Francis
and smile with fatuous fondness
as my small visitors struggle
for their very lives.

©C.M.M.

4 comments:

  1. I saw a robin once and was mightily impressed after seeing them on Christmas cards for many years.

    Robin in Wales

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  2. Now that's what I call pastoral ornithology! And a beautiful poem, Chris. Thanks - just forwarded the link to my wife Sheila who also 'feeds the birds'.

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  3. Something to remember when it seems such an effort to fill the feeders these sub-zero days.

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  4. I love this!

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