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| Mockingbird |
Fluttering on staff lines and spaces
Swooping down first on bass, then on treble coo-coo
I noodle first, then scan the lot
Finding familiar quirks of little clocks
A Tyrolian translated bird song coo-coo
Outside, the day's a buzzing stir
Summer streams an air conditioned whir
And I struggle to reproduce the call coo-coo
Rhythm and cadences at last deduced
I progress; I am amused
To play that old world cry coo-coo
Outside where mockingbirds dwell
I’m sure I hear an echo swell
Softly while he changes key coo-coo
Off tune at first and then more closely pure
He waits again for the phrase to recur
He tries again coo-coo
Oh, that familiar mimic made redress
Of common sounds in common dress
In duet with me, he sings coo-coo
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 2011 * All Rights Reserved
This little story is true. I have embedded a youtube video of the song I was playing. Couldn't play for you myself as my piano and I are separated. It's too large to have at the beach house. I miss it though. The piece is Le Coucou by Louis Claude Daquin (July 4, 1694-June 15, 1772) written originally for the harpsichord.
Another version here on harpsichord if you've become enamored with this tune.
hmmm.....like the harpsichord version...feels like riding in a horse and carriage through the French countryside..not that I have ever done this,mind you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely poem. And you did a great job with all your musical references!
ReplyDeleteLots of skillful repetition, rhyme and reflection here, and a staccato sort of cadence that mimics both the musical selection and the birdsong. I don't think even a mockingbird could duplicate this one. ;_)
ReplyDeleteUnique and a great theme. Love all the senses you put to it. Beautiful flow. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wondrous moment you have captured here, Gay... in poetic song. I lovely mixture of my two favorites- birds and piano!
ReplyDeleteKeyed in to a pleasant land, framed by natural beauty... a fleeting, imagined rest bite from the harsh winter scapes of Northern Europe.
ReplyDeleteV. nicely done gay - piano piece a fine partner for your piece
a lovely consequence for the efforts...the determination makes the read...thank you
ReplyDeletePeace
such a lovely lyrical poem ~ a song from your heart. beautiful, Gay!
ReplyDeleteTruly captured a moment and the essence of the land surrounding it. Wonderful verse.
ReplyDeleteA charming story, charmingly told, with its little clocks, swooping lines, and close purity.
ReplyDeleteThere is a site I mentioned in one of my Saturday Sharing posts that allows downloading of recorded bird songs for personal use. I'd love to hear you read this aloud with the cooing coming in at the appropriate points.
ReplyDeleteLovely poem.
oh, that must have been such a sweet moment...Loved the way you shared it with us
ReplyDeleteBeautifully captured. Lively and fun to read. Would love to hear it out loud!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maureen. I'll investigate if I get a chance. What a cool (coo - coo) idea ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming by.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I'm happy you liked it. It was such a strange experience that has stuck with me as it happened three or four years ago.
read it first unaccompanied and then with the song playing in the background...loved how it sounded together...and you go much deeper here than bird or music... an interlude on life echoing... fine write gay
ReplyDeletelovely gay..the repitition....love the break out of the responses as well...may your duet delight for time to come...smiles.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece with lovely cadence. Experiences like this make such great poetry. Love the video accompaniment too.
ReplyDeleteI love mockingbirds and they tend to invade my poetry. I can see how this song would attract them. It reminds me of them. Sorry you don't have your piano...this seems like a difficult piece. Well-portrayed poem.
ReplyDeleteLovely! I love the repetition here.
ReplyDeletelove this, the rhythm and repetition are lovely. i adore mockingbirds.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful moment, a moment in time, Gay! A bird's chirping can be so mesmerizing. Repeating it makes it linger on! Excellent verse!
ReplyDeleteHank
Beautiful ebb and flow, answer repeat here. K.
ReplyDeleteWow! Some nice keyboard stuff there, and the coo-coo coooks away! Of course you know--but some do not--Beethoven Symphony #6 employs a coo-coo in (probably) 3rd movement. Imagery in music, as in prose/poetry.
ReplyDeleteThanks gay...never heard this before, happy I dropped by...
PEACE!
Sheer delight! And the piano composition, a perfect company for your piece. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteThis wonderful song (with its coocoo grace note) shows how much music and poetry are intertwined in the brain, a sort of blooming jasmine whose roots go into emotion and memory, summing in the whole brain's rapture with the heart. The oddness of that bird's song "pierces us with a strange relation," as Wally Stevens wrote; every poem is a fresh new realm inside the last fresh new realm carved of meaning and sound, thought of the heart become a thing wrought by the art. And it s something that you write this without a piano at hand, those keys and registers become strings in the composing brain, the physical instrument no longer needed to play the music. A least, a legal pad or laptop is a lot easier to lug around than a Steinway. Fine job, Gay. - Brendan
ReplyDeleteGay - a lovely combination of words and music - the latter from your word choices as much as from the recording... What I also really enjoyed was the melding of abstract and concrete - in meaning and aurally. All very complex but very easy to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI adore the delicacy of your poem: the three staggered lines and the little echo on the right. I am so often uplifted by the repeated call of a bird - our cuckoos of the early summer months (October to December) before they fall silent again. The mockingbird is so iconic, I hope to see one some day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a delightful piece of poetry, Gay. It's a treasure.
What an exquisite poem, Gay-- it immediately reminds me of the first sections of Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking... I also have a poem called A Mockingbird Sing Bel Canto-- I think it's on the blog.. xxxj
ReplyDeleteuh huh...and which was the mockingbird? LOL
ReplyDeletelove your little coo-coos aligned on the side, so tactile that it makes the piece almost a montage.
wonderful!
Oh! what a lovely poem and music!!
ReplyDeleteIt 'fit' perfectly, Gay.
I love mockingbirds, I watch them divebomb my cats and grab fur...not for their nests, but just to aggravate those cats!
The musical cadence and poetic cadence fit so well together. ANd I did listen to the harpsicord....the action on this instrument is about 5 times as 'light' as a modern piano...and thank you for posting both of these...and this lovely, vibrant poem.
Lady Nyo
To everyone who has come by - Thank You so much!
ReplyDeleteI am still in the hospital and can't stay online too long at a time; there are lots of interruptions as you might guess. I promise to try to get by all of your posts whenever I can. Thank heaven I have as long as it takes.
This is so lovely, the poetry, the music... what a gorgeous duet... you play piano too??? Would love to hear you, please do that sometime! :) So much enjoy you and your talents, Gay; always a pleasure to visit here.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful song.. and so tuneful... beautiful capture of the moment... thanks for sharing..
ReplyDeleteShashi
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/12/whispers-buddha-song.html
At Twitter @VerseEveryDay
I truly enjoyed your playfulness in words and
ReplyDeleteperfectly enjoyable rhythms.
duet, perfect song,
Smiles.
Beautiful Gay ~ yes, I think I have become a little enamoured by this piece ~ thank you so much for sharing ~ I so enjoyed ~ hugs Lib
ReplyDelete(You have been in my thoughts Gay)
Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. thank you for sharing the song an this cute poem.
ReplyDelete