"yellowhammer" poems
The frog half fearful jumps across the path,
And little mouse that leaves its hole at eve
Nimbles with timid dread beneath the swath;
My rustling steps awhile their joys deceive,
Till past, and then the cricket sings more strong,
And grasshoppers in merry moods still wear
The short night weary with their fretting song.
Up from behind the molehill jumps the hare,
Cheat of his chosen bed, and from the bank
The yellowhammer flutters in short fears
From off its nest hid in the grasses rank,
And drops again when no more noise it hears.
Thus nature’s human link and endless thrall,
Proud man, still seems the enemy of all.
2.3k
Ragged, flimsy, thin, spotted card.
Creased with the tales of time.
Jaws equipped for a blow,
Ears higher than the mouth, just as God placed them.
Face structured like stone,
On the narrow shoulders of a boy, we lean.
And of all the 'siła' endowed to our name,
The windows gently lead to the soul inside.
Carry, drag, and crawl.
But never let an utter of hardship leave thy chest.
Like a ‘Schnadel’,
More gold surfaces, as time does what it does.
"Spread your wings as I have told you,
God bless you, I love you."
Love from 'Polska' is different than words,
More doing than talking, build a house like the birds.
Stay true to 'Wiara' like a true ****** would,
John Paul set example, follow, do good.
"Fight like you’re dying, please lose the sad frown,
‘cause you can’t let the ******** get you down."
What a name you uphold,
Humble pride that is shown,
And like a good yellowhammer,
'Papcio' always returns home.
Sep 11, 2019
Sep 11, 2019 at 11:06 PM UTC
Joan used to tell me about the day you were planted
Fifty eight long years ago
Now she is gone and you have fallen
Defeated by years of strong winds
Twelve years I’ve watched
From my bedroom window
Seen your beauty change
With each passing season
Watched so many birds rest
In your thick heavy branches
Flitting forth and back
To collect seed from the feeders
Great *** blue *** long-tailed *** (like lollipops)
And the not so often beautiful coal ***
Greater spotted woodpecker, Male and female
Crow and dove, robin and chaffinch
Dunnock, nuthatch and the rarely seen Yellowhammer
I’m sitting here looking at the empty space
That you used to occupy
It seems so bare, even barren
Not to see your branches spreading outwards
In welcome to the wildlife that came
Now you lay horizontal across the ditch
Trunk torn from its rightful place by a storm
Leaving a big empty space
That opens the view across the common to the woods
As lovely as the view is and I’m grateful for it
It will not compensate for the view of you each morning
As I look at the open space you left in the hedgerow
I realise you have left a similar space in my heart
Farewell my regal hawthorn tree
You will not be forgotten
All the memories will stay in so many hearts
And the birds are still resting for now
In you sadly fallen body
Copyright 15/01/20 Janice Chinn
Jan 19, 2020
Jan 19, 2020 at 4:39 AM UTC