My Life as a Song Sparrow
by Barbara Crooker
My life is a song sparrow, chip chip chipping
on the hard white ground, hoping to find seeds,
yellow millet or black sunflower. It flits
from old apple tree to hedgerow, saying
my name. It's ordinary as this day,
beige, brown, and white, not flashy cardinal red,
not brassy jaybird blue. You'd hardly notice it
at the feeder, jostled out by all those bigger
birds, plain as the hills behind us, stippled
with trees. It's both more and less than I was
hoping for as I think about the cold mountain,
the long journey home. The sparrow looks
in the still water as it sits on the lip of the bird
bath, sees the wind-drawn ripples. It doesn't look
for more than food and shelter, a nest of straw,
a bough to keep off snow. Someone to share
a branch with, downy feathers on a night
of frozen zeroes. What more can a person
hope for, in this world of a thousand sorrows,
than a life that was made for song, than a body
sometimes able to take wing?
--
Beautiful, yes?
And doesn't the title make a wonderful prompt? Perhaps you'd like to write a poem comparing your life to a particular bird? That's exactly what I decided to do...see below in this week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem. I chose a pigeon because that's what Picasso was fond of painting. :) (Without the art constraint, I think I might have chosen to write "My Life as a Hummingbird." Adding this to my to-do list...) Thanks so much for reading!
My Life as a Pigeon
Quiet, ordinary,
I scrabble for crumbs
along with my flock.
If I've learned anything,
it's that I was built
for flight—
flight and song.
Can't you hear me
cooing?
I carry a map
inside my heart
so that no matter
how far I fly,
I can always find home.
- Irene Latham
Dear Irene ~ Two wonderful poems...and a prompt! Thank you for always sharing art, hope, and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI lovelovelove this, which is so you:
"I carry a map
inside my heart
so that no matter
how far I fly,
I can always find home."
Yes, yes, yes!
(my post goes live on Friday morning)
Thank you for the Round-up and the wonderful post, Irene - love Barbara Crooker's sparrow AND your pigeon (whose "heart map" makes me think of Georgia H.) "I can always find home" is a comforting, lovely line. Thanks, too, to you and Charles for the open call! Happy December. xo
ReplyDelete"It's ordinary as this day" ♥️ Ordinary birds are so underrated. :) (I once wrote a self-portrait as a cat bird.) Thanks for hosting! xo
ReplyDeleteWell, dear Irene, I am delighted to begin to know your Barbara Crooker. And, I traveled to her digital space & am wowed with all the Oct-Nov. 2025 poems pubbed & titles. She has mojo that makes me smile .
ReplyDeleteAnd with your share, her not-so-simple, but simple, non-flashy, not red, not blue, sparrow :" It's both more and less than I was hoping for....'
I like your humble plaza wanderer who finds home.
I expect to light up my golden hour tomorrow with her/your avian invitation.
"**ALSo: With apologies, a plea to overlook my unlinked/brokenlink blog in the cute little boxes.
Irene, I messed up frumpily, lumpily, in attempting to link.
My blog link posted in the boxes for this Friday is broken & I couldn't get it out. . BAck I at my site, I released my #PoetryFriday blog, "Poems, Promptly" on Wed. & that correct URL is
https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com
Love both birdie poems! Just beautiful. Thanks so much for hosting this week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting us and for two sweet poems! The juncos have arrived in Ohio and they have joined the sparrows in cleaning up under the feeder when the bluejays and woodpeckers make a glorious mess of the suet!
ReplyDeleteI love both of these, Irene - one of the things Allan discussed at our NCTE presentation was mask poems, and these are perfect examples of getting inside the mind of another creature. Thanks for hosting, and for helping organize our Poetry Peeps get-together!
ReplyDelete