Friday, 2 May 2008

A Family of Blackbirds

Father has one white eyebrow, sings beautifully.
Mother is the brown of polished chestnuts
with a beak as bright as her mate's.
Dutifully they collect food, wait
every morning for the feast of raisins
to carry to their brood
hidden in a garden tree.

Soon they will come to the lawn
with large-mouthed, speckled young
teach them to pull worms from grass
to recognise the footsteps
that promise raisins.

for my parents, who feed raisins to the blackbirds

Family for Sunday Scribblings

24 comments:

anthonynorth said...

And it seems so uncomplicated. Yet, I suppose they have family politics just like us.
Excellent poem!

WH said...

Delightful lines. I had to read this twice--it's sooo good!

paisley said...

how adorable.. and i am not sure who is getting more out of the bargain... the birds... or your parents!!!!

Anonymous said...

It is so sweet. I could visualise it.

LA Nickers said...

Love the word pictures here!

Blessings,
Linda

SIMPLY SNICKERS – weekly poetry prompts

Granny Smith said...

Not only a sweet poem but also a tribute to your parents. How clever!

YowlYY said...

It's beautiful! Thanks for sharing a memory and a great picture.

Anonymous said...

What a delightful picture you paint here. I used the link and found myself listening to blackbird song! I'm so glad I dropped in.

RG said...

Those birds are good trainers .. like rabbits!

Ričardas said...

Beautiful and very vividly described. I didn't need to force my imagination to see the scene. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

This is heartwarming. The circle of life is present here, not only for the birds but for your parents too, as new birds come to the fold to be fed.

Jane Doe said...

Oh, I love this piece. It brings to mind a simplicity of life that we forget in our mad rush to obtain things and fight our way to the top of the pile. Wonderfully written, thank you!

Scot said...

beautiful and touching last stanza

Devil Mood said...

What a luxury, huh? :)
Family dynamics in animals are so moving to me. Too moving, I must say. When a baby has lost its mother or vice-versa it's mycue to start crying like a baby. ;)

Tammy Brierly said...

I was sitting outside this morning in my new mountain home listening to a bird song. It was driving me crazy to not see it and then I thought, crafty would know that song. I swear!

I enjoyed your lovely poem and it's good to see you.

Forgetfulone said...

What a pretty poem.

Mary Beth said...

This was beautiful! We have cardinals that share everything just like a couple. We haven't thought to add raisins to the bird seed - we'll have to try that!

danni said...

such clarity, such simplicity, such a beautiful flow - i will listen for the wing breaths as they come for the raisins - danni

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful tribute to your parents! Well-written poem!!!

Geraldine said...

How lovely to read! Birds are such a source of fascination. We can learn so much from them too. Well done!

www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com

nonizamboni said...

These are breathtaking images! Loved the description of the parent birds, the feast of raisins and the lessons to learn.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us. It brought tears to my eyes.
:O)

this is my patch said...

I am always so anxious when the babies come down from the nest. They spend so much time on the ground, an ideal target for an opportunist cat, although Mum and Dad do their best to keep an eye on them. x

Anonymous said...

I am imagining a crafty green poet tiptoeing toward a special sport where she places raisins. A beautiful, delicate poem.

Jan said...

i can picture this scene and in fact, observe a lot of scenes like this myself (without the raisins, though!). perhaps i should add raisins? it is really nice that your parents can enjoy this, and, that your poem so fully captures both the life of your parents and the birds.