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Photo Copyright: James Rainsford, Used with Permission
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In shadorma verses as was the first poem I wrote for another photograph of James' here
bird chevron
amassing squadrons
patterned reels
squawks and squeals
learned from the waves on moonglades
comes home on sea mist
writing notes
script slips left to right
feathered runes
silver ink
calligraphy shifts seaside
poetry sand writ
piling lines
a bird on each one
heads turned right
kites fly by
all but two abandon posts
one on right turns left
do birds love
is it ocean vast
connected
life mated
does one fly away one day
and never return
widow bird
does she grieve alone
seek the waves
search the dunes
did he break a wing or foot
life compels--she flies
life compels--she flies
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 2012
I enjoy how this encompasses the cycle of life in its vastness, all seen from the life of sea birds. The way that your poem shows the wholeness of life and its interplay of natural forces is very compelling.
ReplyDeleteThank you Charles. Living by the sea and observing these birds has given me a lot of time to contemplate their lives. I saw a gull with one leg one day and watched him awhile. He seemed perfectly able to balance, hunt for food. He hopped if he needed to but mostly he ruffled his wings and hop-flew to the next place along the beach. Again thanks for the comment.
Deleteoh gay...you make me yearn to spread wings and fly...i mean i was flying for hours and hours yesterday...but not the same at all...to really fly one must feel the wind on the cheeks...and there's def. freedom in letting go...
ReplyDeleteThanks Claudia. I know what you mean. That feeling of a slipstream around you is like nothing else I know.
Deletenice...rather epic gay...you def have me feeling for her there in the end...as losing a mate for anyone or anything has got to be hard....nice form as well...the first two lines hooked me...
ReplyDeleteThose photos of James always set me going. I think I've written to every photo prompt he's given us. Thank you for the compliments. Loved yours as well.
DeleteGay, this is a beautiful write...I second Claudia..there is definitely freedom in letting go....
ReplyDeleteThank you. I think so.
DeleteGay, you have really captured the sadness of a bird losing his/her mate for life. It makes me wonder what they feel, whether they feel sadness as we humans do, or if they just go on instinctively. Beautiful writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary. I found a lot of us followed parallel ideas about lost love one way or another as responses to James' prompts.
DeleteVery lovely Gay (we chose the same picture)..but this makes me sad. These gulls are mated, and to lose a partner is to live a life of grief.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well ~
Things looking up here. But see my above remarks as to the "why" of the widow bird. Thanks for your kind comment!
DeleteLovely, Gay. I especially like the line "life compels-she flies".
ReplyDeleteI believe all creatures must have courage to survive and endure (especially females).
DeleteA evocative and illuminating reponse to the photo. So different from my own, yet equally valid and intensely moving. Thank you Gay. I enjoyed this immensely.
ReplyDeleteI love your photos. I've been inspired every time. Of course, you know I loved the tube station one the most. I had so much fun with that poem. I loved this too. And it makes a nice companion piece to the shadorma set I wrote for the girl at the sea wall.
DeleteI wish I'd written this...especially that second stanza!
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the most wonderful compliments I've ever had. I've felt that about so many poems and I do believe this is the first time anyone has said that to me about one of mine. Thank you, thank you!
DeleteI love the interweaving of poetry and nature throughout this piece. It pays homage to the source while reminding us that 'life compels'. It seems even the birds are taken out of their private thoughts as the world beckons. The undergirding patterns remind me of the depth of creative inspiration that arises when we become aware of fractals in nature. The whole poem is imbued with elegance and architecture, fine work!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anna. When my muse dozes (which she has been doing on and off for the last nine or ten months) I seem to manage to write fairly well within this form. Its insistence on set syllables forces a brevity of thought and words without the additional onus that haiku and tanka impose.
ReplyDeleteI considered naming this piece "patterns" as that is what struck me first about the photograph. Yes I find a certain solace in fractals. I was introduced to them in the 80s by my husband who wrote a program for our earliest computer and let me fiddle around with them. I still have a couple of apps I play with from time to time.
the poor widow bird. she must be so sad.
ReplyDeletei would LOVE to be on that beach right now. ames caught a real winning moment there.
i wonder what the sand calligraphy says? mysterious wisdoms of the ages I think.
congrats on the return of your muse. i know mine comes and goes too.
xo