The river wraps around trees,
some fallen, some weeping,
plays over branches,
and twigs, scattering light.
Yesterday was full of birds
swooping, diving, chattering,
among young leaves;
a robin blustered in the cherry,
parrying the two-note call
of a pheasant strutting among
daffodils, eager for a mate
in these early days of rebirth.
Today, unseasonal snowflakes melt
as soon as they touch the silent earth.
Kim M. Russell, 5th April 2021
My response to earthweal weekly challenge: The Teeming
For this week’s challenge. Brendan asks us to write poems that introduce the reader to the environment we live in – a landscape shaped by time with a culturally diverse ecosystem (with human, animal and non-animal elements). He asks us to widen the focus, deepen the gaze and green the voice.
writing in north norfolk 
A sky teeming with birds is a joyful thing!
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Only epinephrine grumbling about the weather this morning.
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That should say ‘only pigeons grumbling’ but my Kindle gremlins are having a laugh!
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I did wonder! 😅
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Lovely. I especially like how you used the word ‘parry’, Kim!
❤
David
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Thanks David!
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🤗 Kim 🤗
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Thanks for the intro-tour, KR. We’re (finally!) seeing some ground here, and, hopefully, the snow we had on Friday will be the last, having so little of itself left to cling to. . Your fine work here prompts me to get back to work on Peacham Luillabye, a pieceIi started last winter about spotting “the winter’s final flake.’
Have a great day!
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I look forward to reading Peacham Lullaby. I’ll see you at the Poets Pub for the Quadrille!
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Glorious, especially the pheasant strutting among the daffodils. Spring is such a glorious time.
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It is, Sherry, even when we have Easter snow.
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Sounds wonderful! (K)
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It is!
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Kim, with all that action it’s hard to believe the earth was silent ☺️
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It’s silent again this morning after a little snowfall: no birds singing, the daffodils look stunned, and all I can hear is my laptop buzzing. 🙂
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So much life! song! silent transformation!
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Thank you, Susan!
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finely crafted, Kim ~
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Thank you, Michael.
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Yes — this is alive and abundant with place, or the heart’s placing of itself with keen eye and ear. A spring moment rivering eternal. How alive it and thus you become. It teems! – Brendan
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Cheers Brendan!
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I really enjoyed this. Sounds like you live in a lovely place.
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Thank you, Suzanne. It is very peaceful here.
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“parrying the two-note call
of a pheasant strutting among
daffodils, eager for a mate
in these early days of rebirth.”
Love these lines, Kim and those ‘swooping, diving, chattering” birds!
JIM
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Cheers Jim!
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