Black Heron

To Remind Me of Something and Everything                                    (Inspiration from a video by Paul Wheatley)

Black Heron, Lake Kotu, Gambia

ingenious, those feathers, layered:

lifting and spreading as a closed

circle circle circle

covering completely

your bird body head to toe.

You disappear and we are left

with an umbrella; a black umbrella

held up by a beak and two legs

with your bright yellow claws

stepping a ballet

of claws and feather spread.

 

Telescoping, a tuft of feathers,

at your head, a half layer,

further indicating your unusual beauty

and your trajectory

as you move around the shallows.

 

Some say you are your own sunshade,

a canopy as you capture a meal;

a camouflage that captivates us.

 

No umbrella I open would ever be

as beautiful though I might paint

handles a bright yellow

to remind me of you.

 

Benita H. Kape (c) 12.3.2020

 

Advertisement

Second Death – Day 4 April, 2018

Second Death

 

That Kingfisher on the line

He was beauty to me

Late sunshine catching his feathers.

He said something

And this was a sign language

Only you and I understood.

 

But then a note came, a condolence

At your passing from

The very person who spelled

The jagged knife of my own

Jealousy; your betrayal conveyed

Here in an art note regarding

A Kingfisher. I could never shoot

A kingfisher: so I shot you.

 

Benita H. Kape © 4.4.2018

Not sure I’ve hit the mark here but this was the exercise.

And now for our (optional) daily prompt. Our craft resource today focuses on the use of concrete nouns and specific details, using the idea of “putting a dog in it.” Today, we challenge you to write a poem that is about something abstract – perhaps an ideal like “beauty” or “justice,” but which discusses or describes that abstraction in the form of relentlessly concrete nouns. Adjectives are fine too! For example, you could have a poem about sadness that describes that emotion as “a rowboat tethered with fishing line to a willow that leans over a pond. Rainwater collects in the bottom, and mosquito eggs.” Concrete details like those can draw the reader in and let them imagine the real world where your abstract ideal or feeling happens. Happy writing!