Category Archives: bird poem

Small Poems for a Cold Winter Day

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In my last posting here,  I put up a new haiga that was just published in cattails, January 2016, the journal of the United Haiku and Tanka Society, but I was really very fortunate this time round in having three other poems published in the same issue: a haiku, a senryu, and a tanka.

 

cattails, January 2016, haiku, p. 8:

 

winter—
each day closing in
on itself

 

cattails, January 2016, tanka, p. 4: 

 

chased away
by a gang of crows
the red-tailed hawk—
being different
is never easy

 

 

cattails, January 2016, senryu, p. 9:

 

black Friday—
the vultures circle
round and round

 

The Gleam in His Lusty Eye

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Woods Hole, MA - 3/30/14

 

From the window

I watch the cardinal

shuck a sunflower seed,

and, beak to beak,

like a passionate kiss,

he passes it to her,

his paler partner.

I imagine then

that I see the gleam

in his lusty eye.

 

 

sunflower seeds

Note on Photograph: I can find no other attribution for this photograph other than it was taken in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 2014. It has appeared in a number of online birding sites. My thanks to the anonymous (but talented) photographer for capturing this tender moment.

Swallows: Three Haiku

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Today, on Ekphrastic: writing and art on art and writing,  as part of their 20 poem challenge, I have three haiku to go with a gorgeous picture of swallows.

To read the poems and see the art in the original publication, please click on this link:

http://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic/swallows-by-mary-kendall

The artwork is  “Swallows” by Benjamin Chee Chee

Ekphrastic 2 Swallows

 

(1)

frail beauty—

scissoring the sky

on indigo wings

 

(2)

 

hope . . . soaring on wingless winds

 

(3)

 

taking leave—

gathering courage

as you fly

 

pocket_watch_buried_in_the_shallow_beach_AFR-IJ-14804

 

My thanks to editor, Lorette C. Luzajic, for including these haiku.

 

Salted Feathers

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To listen to an audio of me reading this poem, just click on the link below. Give it a few seconds, and it will start.

salt shaker

Salted Feathers

I was four when you told me the story
that if someone wanted to capture a bird
they must sprinkle its tail with salt.

We went outside, salt shaker in hand,
not sure what we really planned to do.
In the end, it was a tiny sparrow foraging

for fallen seeds or tiny insects on the other
side of the chain link fence at the back
of the yard. You told me to go ahead and

sprinkle it. My hand would not fit through
the opening link square with the shaker.
Blindly I tossed a spray of salt that landed

more on you and me than any place else.
The little bird was spared, and he continued
rummaging around in the grasses, indifferent

to the plans made by two small girls who
had no real idea what it was to take away
the gift of flight. No salted feathers for him.

All I remember now is that I felt something
happen inside when the little bird looked
at me and, in the way of all birds, off it flew.

1-chain link 1 (1)

Tanka on a May Morning

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In the past five months I have been studying my much beloved tanka, haiku and small poems in order to become a better writer. Writers–and poets–need to keep growing as they go.  As part of my interest in these lovely small poem forms, I have joined a number of exception online groups of poets who post their own writing. On several of the sites, “prompts” are given and sometimes a picture is given. People respond as they wish or not. Often comments are given. I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to get a “like” or even a comment by one of these poets who are so gifted and accomplished tanka and/or haiku poets, but even without the ‘likes,’ it feels wonderful to be a little more confident about sharing poems publicly. This morning, I’m posting several tanka I wrote this week to specific prompts.

~

1    [prompt: celebration of color]

Photograph (c) Kristin Sanderson

Photograph (c) Kristin Sanderson

 

scribbles

of scarlet red

in the shrubs—

two cardinals

take flight

~

  1.  [prompt: full moonrise, unforgettable moon]

 

Photography (c) by Cab Treadway

Photography (c) by Cab Treadway

cloud masquerade

tonight—

the moon is hidden

from your

wanton gaze

 

~

 

3    [prompt: how you share your journey]

old cobblestones

so hard to cross—

without speaking

I take your arm

and we walk on

old cobblestones in cornwall

 

~

4    [prompt: flutes..music…]

plum-tree-picture

sweet song

hidden in the plum tree–

a nightengale

gives itself

away

nightingale1

~

Dark-Eyed Juncos, a Tanka

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I’d like to share a tanka that is currently appearing in Ribbons, Tanka Cafe, Winter 2015

Junco, photo by Kathy Adams Clark

Junco, photo by Kathy Adams Clark

winter light 

shadows linger low

behind us—

dark-eyed juncos

scurry past our feet

Juncos, photo by Brian Cunningham

Juncos, photo by Brian Cunningham

This poem appeared in Ribbons, Tanka Cafe, Winter 2015
This is the publication of the American Tanka Society,