Return of the Big Birds

Ravens land, obsidian,
hacking like old men,
and crows’ cries punctuate night again.

Rooks argue overhead,
and magpies chatter loud enough to wake the dead,
as surging clapping wings explode

into a raucous, musical river of glossy black
circling farmland: the birds are back!

Kim M. Russell, 20th February 2023

Image by Kevin Mueller on Unsplash

It’s Monday and over at the dVerse Poets Pub we are writing quadrilles with Linda. I remembered the Maya Angelou quotation she started with and enjoyed the Langston Hughes poem she gave us for inspiration. This week she would like us to take any meaning, form or compound of the word ‘music’ and write a poem of exactly 44 words that includes that word.

55 thoughts on “Return of the Big Birds”

    1. I’ve been doing a lot of bird watching lately – and listening to them too. There’s a dove that I see most days on my walk, pheasants, magpies and crows. And in the garden we have quite a variety of small birds now.

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  7. Nice one. Its interesting when i come across a poem where the presence of bird song is seasonal.
    Bird song is an everyday clock in my part of the world.
    Much❤love

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    1. Our robins stayed with us all winter. But there is a difference between the US robins and the UK robins. They are sweet little birds that follow me around the garden, but woe betide any robins that trespass!

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    1. One of the many things I love about corvids is that they are fast learners. They can copy sounds, use tools and do tricks, but they can also be quite threatening in a flock. They have a dark mythology too.

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    1. Thank you David! I love the sound of corvids, especially when it’s misty. We have magpies that visit our garden and they make an incredible chattering sound. It’s as if they’re letting me know they’re around. 🙂

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