Although I have a particular passion for Water, I realized recently that I have written at least a dozen poems about Air, about birds. Most carry a message of being uplifted even in moments of grief or despair.
Birds, it seems to me, do not suffer from depression and do not feel sorry for themselves. Even on the most bitter winter day there is something cheerful about them!
The image above was taken this morning as a fiery red cardinal picked a snow-covered bread crumb from a plate I had put out. Winter is a great time for bird feeding and watching.
Below are links to previous posts where poems that include birds are to be found. I've highlighted a stanza of each to give you a taste (peck!) and a short description.
Follow the links provided in the titles or from 'Read more' if you feel inspired to. And, if you do, let me know which you like best.
Red cardinal/ February mornings
Peck:
A bird drifts
red-cloaked monk
moving in the air
like a prayer
around the temple
Read in full
For me, these brilliant blood-red birds (cardinals) are like little Valentines. Two poems written on two consecutive February mornings at dawn, and a haiku celebrating them.
Peck:
Black-winged bird with folded face
and all the earth-born kindness
of suffering beyond measure
I warmed to you.
This poem continues an exploration of Saturn's influence in my life, linked here with Raven (one of Saturn's gifts) and inspired by encounters with two very different women.
Raven/ Tlazolteotl
Peck:
And the raven
will fly
high above me
like a blessing
like the wings
of my father.
Read more
The raven of death expressed here as a protector, as the continued presence of my father long after his passing. Once, after a healing ceremony, a young woman saw three black ravens leave my heart.
Turkey vulture/ To the river
Peck:
Up there in the light
on chimney rock
a vulture as old as the Ozarks
spreads his wings like prayers ...
Read more
These birds are the condors of the Ozarks, enjoying the thermals above the bluffs that edge the rivers. This one seemed to lend a blessing to my river journey that day.
Just as we've lost
the sacred in water
we scorn this bird
that sings like water
like babbling brooks.
Read in full
When I first moved to the Missouri Ozarks, I lived right beside a creek which brought in many birds. This one, makes the most beautiful (to my ear) warbling sound, like a babbling brook.
Whipoorwill and Owl/ A labyrinth of promises kept
Peck:
A Labyrinth of Rocks spirals light
As Moon rises over the white pines
Whipoorwill calls up the Mysteries
Walking to the Center, the Heart
The Owl and the Pussycat went
Read more
At night in the summer, whipoorwills (nightjars) and owls send their messages through the trees. I have never found this threatening or sad but rather a kind of calling to go deeper into the mysteries.
Yellow-throated warbler/ Fire in the East
Peck:
though the yellow bird
died the sun still rises
in the east and the India
of my dreams wreathed
with marigolds is the body
Read more
During the inaugural blessing of a family sweat lodge my cat brought a bird to the lodge leader who fortunately received it with grace. The ceremony continued to unfold as a dream full of symbols.
Quetzlacoatl the bird shaman/ Plumed serpent
Peck:
Gathering books like future dreams
you float above the forest trailing green feathers
a hermit bird perched
on the edge of mysteries
Read more
This poem was written to lift my partner out of a hermit's melancholy and into the air of his best dreams. Perhaps this is the message of birds for us all.
Bluebird/ Soul-wings
Peck:
Later I understood
That she was my soul-wings
Blue bird of the air
Bringing life to fire's flame
Read more
Bluebirds are Missouri's statebird and I have had several magical encounters with them that seem to be about escaping the cages that are often of our own making and taking flight into joyful freedom.
Feeding birds/ I thanked you
Peck:
Watching small birds enjoying
the suet feeders in the snow
reminds me of you.
Suspended from trees with pulleys -
out of reach but accessible.
Read more
My mother has always fed the birds in winter, bacon rinds hanging from trees and bread crumbs scattered on window sills. My ex-husband also loved birds and invented a pulley system to put their feeders high in the forest trees and away from cats.
American robins, cardinals/ Winter haiku
Peck:
the robins are here!
sturdy and rosy bodies
confident of spring
Read more
As if announcing the perfect snow fall that arrived here in the southern Missouri Ozarks, a flock of chubby American robins arrived first, to peck among the native grasses in the orchard behind the cabin.
Birds in winter/ Snow signs
Peck:
And the feet of birds have
scribbled more perfect poems
than we shall understand
Read more
This poem was inspired by a set of images created from bird prints in snow in the winter of 2009/ 2011. The images may do the best job of telling this story.
Peck:
Tossing out birds
whose chorus frets
and fades away
waving
Writing to music - which brought up images of being on a wild cliff watching birds riding the waves of winds - inspired this poem. There is also a haiku about birds along a California beach.
Look out for a forthcoming collection of poems about water.
See also:
A beautiful piece of writing from my friend and nature blogger Jill Henderson:
Great Horned Owls - Giants of the Forest
To find out who this beautiful rooster is, please enjoy the poem below contributed by special friend and change-maker Barbara Harmony.
