Bird Lady

Bird Lady

A Poem by LJW

She was the crack in the priceless vase

the sum total of all that went before her
minus anyone yet to come and she was only
looking for a  place to lay her tired  head
with a  pitched roof that didn't leak and a
dog that didn't howl when the moon was full

 

The thickening of her waist came about
two years after the dust settled white

on the slant top desk with the hidden
compartment she hunches over

as if she's dedicated her life to writing
something important enough to share

 

No one told her that egrets croak like frogs
or that a loon calls for his mate long after
her death or that still water is swirling
with tiny organisms and baby whirlpools

directly below the translucent surface

so she arranges seeds on her palm
hoping that a bird swoops down and lands
on her outstretched hand without making a sound

 

When she is finished with the birds she will
straighten her back as best she can and head

back home thinking of what to say

and how to best describe nature as she sees it
on her frequent walks through the deep woods

where robins pull worms from the mud at the water's
edge and  foundling sparrow fall from their nests

 

 

 

 

 

© 2024 LJW


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Featured Review

As with Marie I relate so much to this. A large part of my life has been birds. I have been a falconer and I have painted them for ever. I have been blessed with so many wonderful sights and pleasures that have been part of the natural world and these have coloured every aspect of all of my art.
For those reasons and more, I too do not see this as lonely. I also see it as solitude and not in a sad way but in a wonderous way.
This writing is itself wonderous in its composition and construction not just in its subject matter. I am honestly astounded.

Posted 10 Years Ago


4 of 4 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you so much. This piece is autobiographic. I an indeed the bird lady. Growing up in New Englan.. read more
Larry Dyson

10 Years Ago

@ Ken and LJW...I so agree about the solitude being enjoyed and relished.. I love the recreation of .. read more
LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you for your kind words.



Reviews

@ Ken and LJW...I so agree about the solitude being enjoyed and relished.. I love the recreation of the feelings and emotions are so intense as to make it as if I were there..bravo!

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you Eclipsing Moon. (Haven't seen one of them in a long time.) :-)
I am a birdwatcher. I grew up an orphan in a huge extended family, and spent most of my childhood building forts and blinds in the woods. By the age of 7 I knew almost every species of tree, plant, flower, mammal, and bird in the 5 acres around my PA home. At age 8, my friends and I started the state's second largest bluebird nesting box project. Due partly to combined efforts of our groups, the Eastern Bluebird was taken off the threatened species list for the state of PA. Here in Central America, I always select a location to stay where I can document the birds and hear them sing every morning. My closest associate has been working for decades to protect our birds' wintering grounds, as well as his own species he knows and loves. It is so much a part of who we are, how we interact with the natural world, isn't it? We start to feel the tides in our blood, the trees growing in our bones, the birds singing and calling and nesting in our hearts.

I thought this was a lovely poem that was worth a second visit.

-M

Posted 10 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Raquelita

10 Years Ago

Funny you mention bees. Friday, I visited a Central American research station, one of the few of its.. read more
LJW

10 Years Ago

Interesting. The newest buzz in the US is that bees are being diminished by cutting corners using f.. read more
Raquelita

10 Years Ago

That practice is in China, but is more a result than a cause of the bee population declines. The cur.. read more
my children think i am the bird lady, too, i have pointed out the ones around me so often that now my kids point them out to me

your writing is stunning, as always

love this one

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you my friend. Right back at ya......
As with Marie I relate so much to this. A large part of my life has been birds. I have been a falconer and I have painted them for ever. I have been blessed with so many wonderful sights and pleasures that have been part of the natural world and these have coloured every aspect of all of my art.
For those reasons and more, I too do not see this as lonely. I also see it as solitude and not in a sad way but in a wonderous way.
This writing is itself wonderous in its composition and construction not just in its subject matter. I am honestly astounded.

Posted 10 Years Ago


4 of 4 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you so much. This piece is autobiographic. I an indeed the bird lady. Growing up in New Englan.. read more
Larry Dyson

10 Years Ago

@ Ken and LJW...I so agree about the solitude being enjoyed and relished.. I love the recreation of .. read more
LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you for your kind words.
The reviewers who came before me mention loneliness, but that is not what I feel. I feel solitude, refuge, quiet inspiration, discovery. A cure, not a symptom, of ennui.

You have no idea how strongly I relate to this. I ahve studied the tiny swirling things, and tracked the loons across the night sky and once even had the falcon land. It was all so much just a part of my own backdrop that I never thought it was noteworthy to anyone else. The dressers collected much dust for notes never jotted dwn. I am ttying to learn, how.

This is quiet and brilliant and far more powerful in message than the simple despcriptions might deceive you into thinking. I find that is true of much of your work.

Posted 10 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Tease.
Marie Anzalone

10 Years Ago

sure beats the hell out of CT summer and winter. But I do miss Autumn. They call the Western Highlan.. read more
LJW

10 Years Ago

No, but I will.
Harsh and stark of manner, the raw loneliness it conveys left me both captured and startled. Great poetry for grownups. Bravo.

Posted 11 Years Ago


LJW

10 Years Ago

Loneliness happens when I am away from the places that nature carves out as my sanctuaries....forest.. read more
brings to mind an older lady new to writing poetry. she feels compelled to write, so she goes out into nature. she seems weary but heeds her calling. as she spends time out there she learns much about nature, the little things, and she learns about the behavior of the birds. excellent poem. brings a sense of calm.

Posted 11 Years Ago


LJW

10 Years Ago

Excellent interpretation. Older lady et al. :-)
oh my heart. this is aching with never-been's. with almosts... the subtext i read is fear... all the things that never happened. that no one ever said... the negative space... and she only at the park, - settled as the dust on the writing table that carries the epithet 'as if' - wishing improbable things would happen to her.
such a mournful piece, and done superbly. allowing the reader to delve and decipher.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

Thank you, although a very late thank you.

Striking portrayal of life. There really isn't much I can say that the others haven't already. Loved the beginning and the way you set up your protagonist in general. You really paint an interesting, if not melancholy, picture of her. A lonely person who finds relief in an otherwise bland existence through the love of birds.

Posted 13 Years Ago


LJW

10 Years Ago

Solitary person. Unlike a lonely person. A person who chooses to be by herself.

Thank y.. read more
To attempt to describe my adoration for this piece would be like trying to thread a needle with a bumble bee which is to say it's impossible. But I am going to try any how. Many kudos have already been given by previous reviewers, so I will not bore you to pieces.

My favorite part--the fourth stanza. I love the notion of defining a character by what no one told them. Clever, clever. Thanks for posting this. It makes me want to write a poem. You done inspired a poem in me! Viva la

Posted 13 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LJW

10 Years Ago

I wish I'd replied to these comments before.

Many thanks.

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1348 Views
35 Reviews
Rating
Shelved in 8 Libraries
Added on March 7, 2011
Last Updated on February 9, 2024

Author

LJW
LJW

New England



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