One of our ring-readers, Lindsay Hodges, has written the poem below, and I think that you, too, will find it worth circulating here. It describes her recent visit to Lough Foyle, on the north coast, when she came across a late wheatear in the presence of a big flock of recently arrived geese...
HOMECOMING
On
the clear, grey runway of the Lough
Brent
Geese are landing –
their
ailerons of feathers open as they slow,
flaps
of feet prepared for touchdown,
pale
bellies bumping water like a skimming stone.
One
skein after another draws itself to here
for
the eel-grass, for the ambience,
their
sound the hum of airport passengers
waiting
for their luggage, greeting relatives,
ready
for their holidays, homecoming.
Is
this what the Wheatear has been waiting for –
the
lingerer, the one who should be gone,
flying
solo all the way to Africa?
Did
she simply want to witness this,
the
spectacle of camaraderie, thrill of arrival.
Is she watching Anatidae in the first class lounge,
beak
pressed sharp against the glass,
trying
to imagine what it’s like to stay for winter,
not
travel on her own,
not
be the only one.
You seldom encounter poetry with such qualities from naturalists; there is an interesting or even: touching contrast between nature and phenomena belonging to human culture, and the wheatear acts as a deputy for the writing subject. One point to Graham as well, for bringing it to our notice.
ReplyDeleteChrister Persson
Hopefully we will see a few poems emerging from South Dublin, Christer, on your migration back there from Sweden!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a Superb Poem, it give me goosebumps reading it, i was so thrilled and delighted to be there also to witness it all.
ReplyDelete