Killdeer and other magical flying creatures

Today’s Poetry Friday is all about birds

Killdeer, cormorants, orioles, blue heron, and more–my days are filled with birdsongs. Some are melodious; and some sound like rusty gates. So today, for me, Poetry Friday is all about birds. )I’ll get back to my Wondermonger story soon–that’s definitely not finished!)

First of all, thanks to Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog, who also wrote about birds, for hosting this week’s Poetry Friday.

And second, thanks to the lovely birds who fill my ears with music and my eyes with joy!

Killdeer and other birds

Almost every morning, I go for a walk. I have a few favorite routes. Often I follow the path through a nature preserve near my house and at least once or twice a week I go on what I call the “yellow-hooded blackbird walk,” named because of the yellow-hooded blackbirds that live in the cattails around the pond at the end of that walk.

But on either of these paths, I always run into killdeer. Supposedly they were named that because that is what there call sounds like. But to me it sounds like “cheep” or perhaps “peep”. Usually one (maybe the same one?) stands on the gravel path by the pond and twitters down the path in front of me, pausing occasionally.

When she finally flies away, it’s with a flurry of peeps and a flash of orange at the top of her tail as she spreads her wings.

I also came within a few feet of a blue heron by that same pond. Suddenly, I saw his head poking out in the long grasses. I only had my phone with me, so the photo’s not so great–I cannot see him at all, but he really was there!

The Birds–the play

Years ago, when I was in my late teens, I used to be part of a summer theatre in the park group in Rock Island–it was called the Genesius Guild. Every summer we did a Greek tragedy and comedy as well as a couple of Shakespeare plays. It was mostly grown-ups, but I got some small parts and was in the Greek choruses. I loved being part of this summer theatre! One summer we did a modern version of the Birds by Aristophanes. Our director, who was also the local weatherman and later a state senator (or maybe rep), Don Wooten, wrote these plays.  I remember a few lines (not necessarily in order)–

 

How fortunate to be a bird instead of merely human

We think that you would say it’s true if you had our acumen….

When birds are offered beef or bugs to eat, the insect’s chosen.

Grub and fly are in good supply and the price is never frozen….

[note: the price of beef was frozen at the time]

The dirty-minded human loves in secret, hidden nooks.

A bird’s affair is in midair and we don’t care who looks!…

And last for those who criticize the birds, we’ll tell you flat:

When next you step outside your door, be sure to wear a hat.

My bird poem

My morning walk as measured by birds

Killdeer skitter down the gravel path then fly away

Their orange tails flash as they scold me for coming too close.

Cormorant, looking like a large black duck

rides low in the water, only his back and head rise above.

Blue Heron poses in the tall grass by the pond

Then glides silently across the water, a harbinger of grace.

Grown-up geese stand as crossing guards

as their fluffy young waddle across the path

for their daily swim. I wait for them to pass.

Ducks, sleek and muscular, fly overhead,

winging somewhere else, not to my pond.

A red-tailed hawk chases a crow almost twice it’s size

and returns triumphant to its tree as the crow wings away,

cawing in annoyance.

White pelican floats in water so still that

her reflection is as clear as her form.

Yellow-hooded Blackbirds creak out their song

like rusty gates swaying improbably atop cattails.

Doves waddle down the road, singing

their sweet song.

Orioles play hide and seek, barely visible among the

Aspen leaves, little more than a peek of bright yellow and orange.

The birds sing and wing, creating a cacophonous symphony

that blends with the sound of the nearby river as the frogs provide the bass line.

It takes my heart soaring into the sky

along with these winged wonders,

Then brings me back to the still waters of the pond

as the gravel crunches beneath my feet.

That’s all for today!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo