KateMcCarrollMoore

not all city birds are scavengers

thriving in man-made jungles

outside my window

black phoebe calls

wake up

in its two-note dawn chorus

mockingbirds and mourning doves

perched and hidden, hopping and chirping

remind me that

nature always persists

so why can’t everyone appreciate

beauty and diversity in subtle shades of grey?

(Day 28: 1 subject 30 ways #questionendingpoem

https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601137132/city-birds)

Power lines are deadly

To millions of birds each year

Oil spills and wind turbines too

That’s why there’s a hundred-years law on the books

A treaty protecting each eagle and wren

Birdlovers unite to uphold the law

being threatened by grift and by greed

Politicians seeking profit and gain

Laying waste to this beautiful land

Pay attention, look up, speak up and take care

If birds are not safe and allowed to fly free

Sadly, my friends then, neither are we

(Day 27: 1 subject 30 ways #startlepoem)

What if our souls were birds?

What if our spirits took flight?

What if our days went on for always?

Forever…

These are the wanderings of a restless mind

Wishing for sunlight, listening to rain

(Day 26: 1 subject 30 ways #whatifpoem)

I know it’s probably exciting

What with all the voices and traffic noises

The dodging in and out of doorways

The fast food smells and bus exhaust

Time must pass quickly day to day

As all those hurrying feet move past

But, did you know there’s a whole other world out there

Just a few miles to the East as the crow flies (or the pigeon)?

There are wide open spaces

Where you can listen to wind

and windchimes

and cows mooing on hillsides

Time passes slowly there

Come visit anytime

(Day 25: 1 subject 30 ways #directaddresspoem)

The first time

I rescued a bird

I was eight years old

Playing tag in Joey Hughes’ yard`

I stopped when he yelled freeze

Looked down at my feet

And there, beside my scuffed Keds

A nearly naked bird

Everything froze in that moment

While I gathered

Shoebox

Tissue pillow

Eyedropper

Me

In my mind, the bird took rest and sustenance

Grew feathers

Learned to fly

Brought its chicks to meet me

The girl who saved a life

Instead, despite my nursing

And desperate prayers

A different fate, life lesson learned

My father’s steady hand, my shaking shoulders

His words resounding

Nothing you could have done

Happens every day

Other mouths to feed

Only the strong survive

(Day 24: 1 subject 30 ways #memorypoem)

There’s an empty field behind our house

every morning it comes alive

welcoming a gaggle of leggy geese

honking their sun salutations

same gaggle every day

same time too

they swoop in all at once – a goosey cacophony

interrupting my reverie

but then the most remarkable thing –

they stand in a circle of prayer

practicing their mindfulness

a birdlike tadasana

I stand at the window transfixed

then imitate their still-life pose

greeting the morning in peace

ready to take on the day

(Day 23: 1 subject 30 ways #strikingwordspoem)

Leaving the city

We descended the metal stairway

To the train

Passed a flock of sooty pigeons

Pacing back and forth across stained cement

Scavenging for food – half-eaten French fry, dropped chip

Alongside a homeless man

Back at home, drink in hand

I sat in the garden to read

Surrounded by

A burst of new-bloomed roses

And a tangle of wisteria

My own private Eden-

Serenaded by songbirds

Splashing in the birdbath, dining on premium seed

The world is inconsistent

And we don’t choose our fate

A lesson from the birds

Repeats

On a sunny Sunday date

(Day 22: 1 subject 30 ways #messageendingpoem)

It’s a scientific fact

dinosaurs sported feathers first

evolving into birds of flight

that grace our skies today

And science proclaims thousands

of different species

every color shape and size

flying over mountaintops and oceans

riding winds of change

I may not be religious

but it’s surely more than science

that pulls each bird back toward home

after traveling the world

It’s surely more than science

that compels those swallows

to return

with precision every year

on the feast day of St Joseph,

patron saint of immigrants,

defender of the poor

There’s a secret waiting in each egg

that hatches into being

an age-old hidden mystery

or maybe it’s divine –

the scientific secret code

directing every heart that beats

Forever, throughout time

(Day 21: 1 subject 30 ways #sciencepoem)

There is a battle brewing

Between the feathers and the fur

Our birdfeeder’s hung to feed the birds

The squirrels hang out below

Birds perch there to eat their fill

Squirrels don’t wait their turn

Birds fly off in hungry frenzy

Squirrels take their place and gorge

Why do I nurture my feathered friends

But so resent the rodent crew?

(Day 20: 1 subject 30 days #backandforthpoem)

A note on today’s poem – I found this the most challenging one this month – couldn’t seem to find the right words or rhythm.

is made of energy

He runs on excess air

Flying through the house and yard

Never quiet, never still

Until

I pull him next to me and point

Out the window to a tree

Where still as still can be

Sits a ruby-throated hummingbird

Still-life painting on the leafy branch

 At first we thought it must be a leaf

Maybe mirage or figment

No bird could stay so still

Yet

Just like the miracle of the boy beside me there

Frozen in time

Watching with wonder

The bird stayed put for near an hour

And so did we

(Day 19: 1 subject 30 ways #openinglinepoem)