For the dverse prompt. I wasn’t sure how on prompt this is, and I wasn’t sure where it was going, but I like where it ended up.
Air too dim to see today
the mist too thick the cloud too grey.
Nothing moves on the lane today
between ditch and ditch
no leaves on boughs to perch upon
the robins gone.
The sun is in the sky today
or so they say
but fog and rain conceal the gleam
of pool and stream.
I toss a bowl of sunflower seeds
into the leaves
beneath the trees
the hornbeam and the lime that stand
in silhouette before the house
and watch
distilled from rain and chilly mist
the finches flit,
rose-breasted, brown and smoky blue,
powder yellow and the green of mossy bark.
You turn and smile and in your eyes I see
a summer world where blackbird sings,
the russet flash of kestrels’ wings.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
I am there, ready to go in for a cuppa now 💜💜💜
No time to be outdoors 🙂
No indeed 💜
🙂
I love how you let the world grow from the grayness… it made me feel like you painted spring on the canvas of winter with sunflower seeds.
Thank you. It’s all there, but we tend to be distracted by inessentials and don’t see that life never stops or goes away.
This is so lovely, Jane. I like where it ended-up, too!
(And funny that you said my poems remind you of birds, but your birds are really there.)
Do you remember that you said you’re hearing new bird song–like spring is coming? I’m just starting to notice it here–even though we could still have blizzards.
Do you have mistle thrushes? They sing all winter, but we notice them most when the weather is bad. They perch high in trees and sing even when a gale is blowing.
No, I had to look them up. We don’t have them here. I think regular thrushes stay all year, too, though I’m not sure if we have them around our house. They’re related to robins, and we do have those all year.
They’re maybe not related at all. I think the early settlers in America named birds after the ones they knew in Europe on just a passing resemblance, nothing scientific. Your blackbirds are nothing like ours nor are your robins. It’s a nice idea though, hanging onto things that were so familiar.
“you turn and smile” your lovely lovely volta ❤
Thanks Jade 🙂 I’m glad it turned out like that.
I love all the colors in your verses and looking forward specially to that spring and summer world.
It’s what we all do during the winter, I think.
My goodness this is absolutely breathtaking verse, Jane! ❤️ I love; “I toss a bowl of sunflower seeds into the leaves.” 😀
I’m pleased you like it, Sanaa. I enjoyed letting it find its own rhythm.
We all adored the spreading of sun flower seeds; put me in mind of the saga of Johnny Appleseed. Your use of color is exquisite, and many of your plants have fetching names.
Thank you Glenn! They must be trees that you don’t have. Nature’s infinite variety…
I love the way this ends with you seeing the summer in another’s eyes. The way you have bought in the kestrel at the end make me spirit soar.
Thanks Suzanne. I suppose it goes back to what we were saying about sharing emotions.
Jane, i like the way you used the sunflower seeds to reveal what may not have been immediately obvious. And isn’t that true in life. There may be more than meets the eye if we are patient enough or intune to see it. Loved the colors! And now I know that Kestrels are falcons… 🙂
Thanks Rob. It’s very true what you say, we tend to only look out for what we want to see. Like choosing which news we want to believe.
The Kestrel’s name comes from the French name Faucon Crecerelle. The Normans brought falconry to England and the names associated with it. Falcon from faucon etc.
This is delightful, Jane – how you’ve transformed the oppression of fog into hope for a brighter day. It’s been foggy here for four days now – thanks for the lift.
I hope your weather’s cleared. I can never find anything to like about fog.
Looks clearer this morning, thanks Jane.
🙂
You can never have too many birds, in verse or in life. (K)
That is so true.
Oh my, Jane! This is so close to home I’m almost living it, except the mist and fog has cleared here already! I love the beautiful contrast of the hidden and the revealed, the ‘nothing’ and the flit and flash, the grey and the colour. I also love the lyrical lilt of this poem, Jane, and the gorgeous ending.
Thank you. The fog got thicker and thicker yesterday as the temperature rose. The birds are always there though sometimes we get distracted by what we dislike, like the rain and the cold.
there’s a promise we look for in things yet unseen, the feeling is tangible enough in this poem Jane
There’s so much that we never notice.
Lovely poem. I love the descriptions of the things that can’t be seen and those beautiful rhymes.
Thank you! I’m pleased you like the rhymes.
yes, the rhymes and bird sightings are delightful, Jane
Thank you, Lynn 🙂
I love how your birds materialize from fog, and while the imagery is grey and thick, your meter flits along, foreshadowing finches.
Thank you, Nora. The birds do seem to orchestrate the silence and even monochrome landscapes.