She hobbles over cobbles,
oblivious to the flash
of gold-finches
in the branches
of dusty urban trees.
They tinkle as they gather
round dandelion puffs
to eat seeds, collect fluff
for their cobbled-together
nests, while she’s still looking
for a night-time place to rest.
Kim M. Russell, 4th May 2018
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: Cobble
Today De is our host with the prompt word ‘cobble’.
LOVE “hobbles” and “cobbles,” and I can see those dandelion fluffs! (My favorite!)
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Thanks De!
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Love this same combination as De… I almost think that it takes a homeless person to see that finch…
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I’ve been watching the ones in our bay tree – delightful!
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Oh, the contrast between the hard cobbles she’s walking over and the soft fluff in the cobbled together nests. Even birds are kinder to each other than we are.
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So true, Sarah.
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I love your last two lines!
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Thank you, Jo!
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May she find a place to rest.
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I hope so too, Frank.
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I wonder what made you think of goldfinches in connection with cobbles? It’s a poem full of delightful contrasts anyway 🙂
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🙂 I was watching goldfinches in the garden and they reminded me that not everyone has a nest or the wherewithal to build one.
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True. Nor a bunch of gentle friends to gather round.
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I love the flow of this…and it ends ever so gently on a hopeful note…here’s hoping she finds a place to bed down for the night…..sigh!
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Thank you, Viv!
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☺️
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I feel like our poems have a somewhat similar mood. This hits the heart in a vulnerable spot.
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Thank you, Victoria. I had to give my eyes a rest but I’m up again now and ready to read!
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I like the finches “cobbled together nests”…which is what the homeless woman must do too, sadly.
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No free fluff for the homeless, Lynn. They are ignored by most people.
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Lovely Kim but at the end, so sad. The birds have homes but not this elderly woman.
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Thank you, Toni. Some of hose hobbling homeless women aren’t even that old, it’s the conditions they live in that age them. It’s truly sad (and disgraceful) that governments are not doing enough to give people homes but they are quite happy to take from everyone.
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I can feel the homelessness, the birds have a nest yet she has not even a strand of straw.
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Thank you, Truedessa. Everyone needs a nest, it’s a basic requirement of life. I feel for those without a home; there but for the grace…
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Gorgeous imagery in this one, Kim 💜 love “hobbles over cobbles” and the way my lips form when I say it 😀
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Thank you so much, Sana! 🙂
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Wonderful – I love the rhyming bits.
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Thanks!
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Love the cobbled together nests!! Nice!
Dwight
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Thanks Dwight!
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How strong that cobbled together nest can be ~ Love your response Kim ~
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Thank you, Grace. I’ve been watching birds in our garden.
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This is just delightful!
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Thank you, Jill!
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love the cobbled together nest but the story here touches my heart
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Thank you, Candy.
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Hauntingly lovely.
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Thank you so much.
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Poignant and beautiful.
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Thank you, Charley!
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You are welcome!
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A sad story, no one should be homeless.
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Absolutely, Annell.
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There is so much that I like about this… but ultimately it is the hobbling over the cobbles with no place to go while birds feather their nests…heartbreaking…
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Thank you, Janice.
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So hard, so soft, so lovely, so sad.
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Thank you, Lona.
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