Pecking Order

[hillwalker]

PECKING ORDER

In these boreal days, upon the cusp of solstice,
spare a thought for all the birds who scavenge here for crumbs of solace…..

the humming bird from far Cathay,
her shimmer like a gemstone in the pelt of winter

the turtle dove from Central Park,
her cooing ever poignant, ever soothing to the troubled brow

the feisty kookaburra, chirruping and cursing at the brou-haha,
the tiny warbler dancing in the margin, never heard but never far away

the Cockney sparrow, vibrant, sparking,
never bowing to the posturing of bullfinches or woodpeckers

the firebird, a phoenix seeking bright ascendance,
lily trotter, feet upon the water, Dylanesque as ever
then a puff of dust as roadrunner goes past in snakeskin boots

and here’s the speckled starling, oft neglected,
mimicking the gods yet with the nerve to shhit upon their shoulders

and on a distant perch, the cockatiel,
his measured words as close as birds can get to being divine,
his every squawk as wise as Socrates

while on the strand, the solitary heron, slow to settle,
fixes eyes upon the waves that scrabble for the shore

the patient vulture enters from the shadows, poised to probe
the rotten carcasses of those who perished on the barbs of criticism

havoc cried aloft upon the wing, a hawk a-hover on the lilting wind,
with talons bared yet tipped in velvet

all eclipsed by looming shadow from a mightier wingspan,
hooded eyes attuned to form and syntax,
scattering seeds and peanuts as she hits the table…..

but alas too late to make a difference
as that ruddy kitty-cat emerges from the fireside; all is quiet, all is calm.

H :D

[PrinceMyshkin]

Alas I didn't know what to make of "far Cathy" unless that was an unfamiliar spelling of Cathai? Alas, because it delayed my pleasure for an instant in the wit and music throughout this.

But I must confess too that I didn't recognize the "mightier wingspan" of the next to last three lines.

[hillwalker]

Alas I didn't know what to make of "far Cathy"

Typo typo typo!!!

Thanks for spotting it with your eagle-eye - and no, that isn't a hint!

H

[blank|verse]

And the Scottish Osprey, rising from the hill
swoops over the Muse's loch

to snatch another glittering poem
slippery with mischief!

Merry Christmas, hill.

[hillwalker]

Cheers b|v - tongue-in-beak this one.

H

[AuntShecky]

A compendious aviary, though I'm a bit confused about the time and setting. On the "cusp of the Solstice": which one? Later on we're told about the hummingbird in the "pelt of winter," but why is the tiny little bird still here, not having yet taken off for warmer climes--

which brings us to some of the others --the cockatiel and other tropical birds as well as one from the Land Down Under, the kookaburra. What part of the world is this? Maybe it is a heated birdhouse in a zoo?

Yet it must be some unusual birdhouse since there is a mythical bird as well, The Firebird, who is said to be immortal, having the power to rise from the ashes after death. As yours fooly said elsewhere recently, we can hardly hold the poet responsible for the gaps in his reader's education. I would have expected a reference to Stravinsky but Dylan Thomas? Could you give me a little hint on the details of the analogy?

The only technical quibble I have is the spelling of "brouhaha" -- no hyphen, but using it adds to the chirping sounds of this piece. So maybe the "haha" part of the word is set off for a cute play on words.

Your closing lines come as a complete surprise --just like a feline on the prowl suddenly coming upon a bird. As a result, the piece is absolutely charming.

P.S.
May your nights this season be as "silent" or as boisterous as you choose!

[hillwalker]

Could you give me a little hint on the details of the analogy?

Look no further than these pages - neither zoo nor aviary, just the bird-table of our beloved Poetry forum.

H :-)

[mpdague]

I am confused by the use of boreal. Otherwise I enjoyed your avian humor H.


M

[hillwalker]

'boreal' = relating to the Northern hemisphere (such as Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights - cf Aurora Australis which appears in the Southern skies).

H

[AuntShecky]

Look no further than these pages - neither zoo nor aviary, just the bird-table of our beloved Poetry forum.

H :-)

I meant this simile, which I still don't get:

Dylanesque as ever

[hillwalker]

I do beg your pardon -

lily trotter - aka jacana - fellow scribe 'Jack of Hearts' (whose avatar, and much of his output recalls a younger Bob Dylan). Also, his nom de plume comes from Dylan song 'Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts'.
Rather convoluted - but that was the way my brain seemed to be working yesterday afternoon.....

Best wishes

H

[Bar22do]

Ah, this was the pièce de résistance of this Christmas page! he he, hill (and of the ruddy kitty!)! By now, "all is calm", no doubt, with some red spots on the snow... :brow:
Happy New Year to you none the less!

Bar

[yuka]

Alas, too late to hammer this mischief :smash:
:party:

[firefangled]

Very clever, Hillwalker.

Prince once posted an eight word poem here. It was the first thing I thought of in trying to decipher yours.

I must say working together in my head both poems added to the experience of reading each.


Birds in adjacent cages
pondering
each other's dreams

[Haunted]

Sounds like my cat Tiger! Its adorable how you give each bird its own character. The shift from avian to literary brings it to a new level. But the kitty took care of it all! Great dramatic ending.

[Jerrybaldy]

Bugger it. I get to be a vulture? Its like the time I wanted to be baby jesus and and ended up in the back behind yonder star, billed only as super massive black hole :D
I am still at work on the rest of the cast, but so far I have got the hawk as errrmm hawk, the cockney as zoo, humming bird sounds like yuka, if I googled right, I got jack, the mightier wingspan of aunty?, turtle dove is haunted?, Kookabura - Delta? Cockateil Prince? I reserve the right to state at a later date that these were only my initial impressions and you should put us or me out of our/my misery.

[hillwalker]

@Bar and @Haunted - I'm pleased you enjoyed this rather cheeky homage to my fellow-LitNetters. And you'll be pleased to learn we all escaped with our lives before that pesky cat struck.

@Yuka - late, not not too late. Thanks for reading.

@ff - thanks for responding

and @Jerry - the vulture is indeed a noble bird, but alas 'twas not you I had in mind.
My lawyers assure me I am now at liberty to reveal the identity of those who joined us at the bird-table (and you were remarkably close) - and to anyone who feels possible a little offended, blame the turkey.

humming bird = yuka
turtle dove = Haunted
kookaburra = Delta
warbler = MaryD
sparrow = zoo
firebird = firefangled
lily trotter = Jack of Hearts
roadrunner = hack
starling = jerrybaldy (see!)
cockatiel = Prince
heron = (that was me)
culture vulture = blank verse
hawk = Hawkman
American eagle = Aunty
and finally
kitty-cat = kittypaws

Best wishes for 2011 to all my readers

H

[Jerrybaldy]

Pure genius Hill. Of course I always knew I was the starling and I was merely joshing. I note I got some right though so I leave here in the very well known starling strut..... :D

[Jerrybaldy]

You make me want to carry on you fu cking heron ;)

[hillwalker]

You make me want to carry on you fu cking heron ;)

chuckle - so it was worth the effort.

H :->

[yuka]

i googled for hummingbird, not too bad
but next time, i would like to be a giant hummingbird yet not a tiny one :coolgleamA:

[Haunted]

Jerry is a genius for figuring it out and Hill is just plain brilliant. I only made out Hawk on first read (wonder what gave it away!) When I saw Central Park I was delighted this side of the pond was given some attention but then I thought, there's a main street in every town, so maybe there's a Central Park in Scotland. Besides there's no mention of a "strange bird" or "trashpecker"... I wiki'd turtle dove and it looks like a decent citizen. Didn't say how well it writes with its beak though : p

[yuka]

:) yes turtle doves are rather decent and expert at singing
i often heard their singing (ceu-u-u-u-u)
and once i wrote a poem named 'the call of turtle dove'

[hillwalker]

Ah, you two.

Hummingbirds are very delicate, exotic birds, yuka - not seen in this corner of the world. So you bring colour and a touch of magic to these pages.

Turtle doves - I often see a pair cooing in the trees outside my window - I believe they are also a symbol of everlasting love, as well as being mean poets.

H :-)

[ShadowFire]

I like the lines in the poem that talk about the vulture very much.

[hillwalker]

Thanks Shadowfire - vultures of course are supreme at picking over carcasses (or in this case, poems!).

h

[yuka]

Ah, you two.

Hummingbirds are very delicate, exotic birds, yuka - not seen in this corner of the world. So you bring colour and a touch of magic to these pages.

H :-)

I know, I know, of course. I just want to be a hummingbird of giant, at least as big as an eagle.

I once saw hummingbird, three, not one, at the same time, about two month ago. they are too too too small.