Oh, season of hollow
darkness and silence!
When the blackbird sings
before Christmas, she will cry
before Candlemas, is how
the saying goes; so I forgive
the muted blackbird and thank
the thrush for singing
sweet promises of spring
despite threats of frost and snow.
Kim M. Russell, 12th January 2019
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Just One Word: Hollow
Marian is our host for a new challenge this weekend, which she introduces with a quotation from T.S. Eliot. We have just one world as a springboard for our poems – hollow.
I rescued an olive thrush that was trapped in my bathroom this morning.. he whistled as he flew away. We need these small reminders of hope and beauty.
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I haven’t heard a songbird for a while, Kerry, just crows, the magpie and the odd wood pigeon. I was hoping for a robin but they seem to have disappeared from our garden. . I don’t mind waiting but I need that reminder that sprig isn’t so far away.
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This is utterly beautiful, Kim! ❤️ I too long for winter’s departure and arrival of spring 🙂
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Thank you, Sanaa!😊
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Indeed those threats are loud resounding now. My sparrows were chattering about it just yesterday!
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I can see where the American Groundhog Day tradition comes from … that dead-of-winter sound is hollow, like stone against bone … And of course there is a deadening of birdsong, aggravated, I fear, by the massive dying off of insect life now happening due to climate change. What’s there to sing, if there’s nothing to eat? Let’s pray they all come back. How lonely — how, yes, hollow — our world will be when it sounds like winter all year round …
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I’m taking part in the UK winter birdwatching at the end of the month. Last year I recorded fewer birds. I hope there are more this year.
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I sometimes here a cardinal answering the crow. A flute answering the cello. A wonderful and wistful poem. Spring in three months…not so far away. And snow is falling silently here.
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Keep warm, Toni.
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Oh I ADORE this poem! So achingly beautiful. One thing about moving south is the on warm days I do hear the few songbirds that are here in the mountains. Maybe they don’t sing as much, but they do like my birdfeeder.
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Thank you, Margaret! How lucky you are to live in the mountains, where you get to see and hear all kinds of birds.
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I always love a poem with birds in them. Wonderfully done!
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Thanks Sherry!
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I second the above. I do look for birds in winter, and think of the loud mornings of spring. (K)
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Thank you! 🙂
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I love those last few lines. All right, I love them all. It’s terribly cold here, I haven’t seen a bird in ages–not even my darling daring blue jay thief. The song of this thrush feels like warmth and color.
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Thank you! I’ve not been to New York in the snow but my husband has told me how cold it can get. Wrap up warm, Magaly!
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birdsong is mysteriously so uplifting – it really is – and I don’t know why – but care not to know the answers, other than to just wait for it …
it’s far too cold and bitter here for thoughts of spring- we’re in winter’s clutches, but even on the coldest days, the small ones, the little feathered puffs – the chickadees and finches, are out, trilling and chittering, as they look for food … and if this isn’t beautiful, then I don’t know what is.
lovely poem Kim – and may you be blessed with some lovely birdsong –
(I hope you’re feeling better and your hearing is improved or better etc.)
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Thank you so much! I can hear again but I still have tinnitus and struggle with background noise. I’m due another hearing test on 22nd January and hope it will be helpful. In the meantime, high winds have kept the songbirds away. The magpie’s been hanging around but even he is silent.
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Glad to hear that you’re doing and feeling better with your ears/hearing — that’s definitely a great improvement and I hope it only gets better and sorted for you.
It can get rather gloomy when the weather means the birds are blown about and aren’t singing. hopefully this will pass sooner than later and you’ll be feeling a shift towards spring – I always marvel how you’re months ahead … at least when it does start showing itself, we can reap the benefits of the smiling energy in everyone’s writing while we’re still snowed in! LOL – hope you have an amazing week 🙂
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😊🌷🌷🌷
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I am sure the birds are just saying “Have you found any food yet” to each other, meanwhile the crafty blackbird has found some and is not saying a word! Sadly snow is a rarity here and confined to the high country in our winter months of June,July and August in Australia.
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😊
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This is lovely. Your name, “hollow season” is quite apt, yet you remind is that it is only a season, and it will give way to a different, more filling one. And, not least, the rhyme and meter make this a joy to read, and to speak.
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Thank you, Mary.
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“so I forgive/the muted blackbird and thank/the thrush”: Love how you played with the birdsong as an adage as well as a metaphor here. A lovely verse, Kim! 🙂
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Thank you, Anmol! 🙂
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Kim, this is stunning. I can feel it in my bones.
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Thank you so much, Helen.
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very classical feel ~
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Thank you.
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I’m no sure that blackbirds are migratory but we have them swarming in winters. Whole parking lots full. Like this poem.
..
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Blackbirds aren’t migratory but they don’t sing until spring. It’s linked to defending feeding territories rather than breeding. Saying that, a robin came to sing very loudly while I was hanging out washing yesterday!
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This is sweet in that it’s infused with promise and hope (no matter the circumstances).
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That’s the thing, Viv – no matter the circumstance.
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… And how we have the ice and snow, though I did still hear birds singing this morning. Love this poem, Kim.
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Thank you, Marian. I heard a bird this morning too, before it started to get light!
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