10.12.2011

Writing Wednesday.

 
Not a Magpie Tale today, 
but a bird of a different sort . . .





My walk was so utterly lovely yesterday, with all the poignancy of a last embrace.  And indeed today rain and wind are snatching the last of autumn's splendor off the trees as I type. 


As often happens when confronted with beautiful things, 
my walk got my word-wheels turning. . .






and when I came home 
I just had to jot some lines 
about what I had seen.









There's a sharp divide over birds in my family, with some viewing them as creepy dinosaur leftovers and some who love everything about them, from the birds themselves to bird-as-metaphor.  (I fall into the latter camp, in case you are wondering. But I suspect you knew that.)






Anyway, my brief morning encounter with a feathered friend who was also busy soaking up the last sunshine resulted in a poem --



Autumn Cardinal
  
a crimson flit, fickle
unable to stay it offers
its lovely apology
a sliver of red song
on a quivering yellow perch --
shimmering coins, a curtain
of summer's last currency to spend
laid out against the blue
and counting out their worth
a pivotal contrast, this stark duet
of voice and color reaching
to sing the highest notes
hoping to be heard
above all else, remembered
the tremulous crescendo of a song
that will need to last awhile

-- smh














A little memento of a picture-perfect morning.
  
I hope you've been able to bask in a bit of autumn beauty in your own neck of the woods, or wherever it finds you.




  

2 comments:

Leenie said...

Maybe the surgeons fine tuned your already extraordinary poetic skills while they had your head in their hands (hmmm creepy thought, sorry). Whatever, your poem pretty much nailed how I felt on my morning walk--without the cardinal. We need cardinals here. I really like the leaf-coin metaphor.

Love the sweet tweet of your blue bird too.

susan m hinckley said...

Why thank you, Leenie! Coming from a fine poet such as yourself, I will accept it as high praise. And hooray that you got the leaf/coin thing! It's nice when people get it, because I spend most of my time wondering if anyone does . . .

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