As I did this morning, I will present the poem and then present my ramblings about the poem. Enjoy!
I.
In your azure blue coat and rusty orange vest,
You flit from the roof to a pole then your nest
In the blue house I made
With the white inclined lid
'Neath my eaves shielding shade
And cleverly hid
In the tangle of twisting wisteria vines
Where the rain never drips and the sun never shines.
II.
Beneath your safe dwelling, I’ve put up a mirror.
The almanac says you like having one near.
Why have a reflection?
Do you prickle or preen?
Do you make the connection
When two birds are seen?
When you sit in your nest, do you tingle with pride
To think there’s another you watching outside?
III.
Each season, I watch as your brooding time passes,
Then I clean out the poop, the sticks, and dried grasses.
I study the status
Of the wood walls and roof
And mark on the lattice,
As if you needed proof,
That nothing is rotten nor insect infested
In the home that I’ve built where you’ve always nested.
I started writing this poem two years ago and had envisioned it being something along the lines of Suicide Note, which is a poem in Atheists and Empty Spaces that is modeled after John Keats' Ode on a Nightingale. To make it a poem like that, I needed another seven to ten verses. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone back and looked at this poem--no stared blankly at this poem--and thought, "I've got nothing." Today, I was putting together all the poems that I have written in the last year and posted in my blog, (Yep, you can read them all!), and I noticed this one hanging out in "Working Drafts." I opened it, and immediately Kellie's words that she repeats to me nearly every time she reads a new poem flashed in my brain, "Shorter poems are better." Then, I thought, "Can I end this poem in three verses?" Well, I rewrite the third verse quite a bit, but I only needed to reword the other two to make the rhyme schemes the same.
By the way, this poem does have a rhyme scheme, but it's rhythms are not as tight as what I usually prefer them to be. I found that adding a word here and there, and braking the meter by a syllable or two actually worked better. Well, see what you think? Remember to drop me a line at the bottom of the page and tell me what you like and what you don't. If you any requests for poems, I still do them. I prefer to write about Nature at this time, but I'll think about any request.
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