The Bird Alchemist
The Bird Alchemist
was small and hero blue,
a most consummate
mountaineer of treetops,
aficionado of the woven twig,
knight-errant of the whipping wind,
fetching his lady favors
of jumping bug and thistledown
in the aquarelle skyscape
of implacable spring.
The Bird Alchemist
was more than his mask,
a Renaissance Bird of arts
and sciences, bearing the commerce
of reproduction for the rippling
sake of his mate's feathered belly
while nocturnal vigils teased him
with the secrets of all things; aloof
in his cypress lab, rocking spellbound
before creation's daft flicker, til
victorious he rose each dawn,
worms transmuted into song.
May 2020
posted for
Kerry O'Connor's
and for earthweal's
(exploring Monday's theme
of the hero quest)
even tho earthweal is one of several word press sites that think I am spam
Note: Aquarelle is a style of painting using thin, typically transparent watercolors, traditionally created by applying each color thru a separate stencil, now more loosely used for the style in general.
Images : Creation of the Birds, © Remedios Varo Fair Use
Aquarelle Landscape With Bird, © Anna Svennson on Instagram Fair Use
Ah, this is just sublime, Joy. I love the first stanza's exposition of the heroic figure, so beautifully described, and the fact that the whole poem is two long sentences.
ReplyDeleteOh for the cypress lab and the worm transmuted into song!
Thank you Kerry. I had fun with this.
DeleteThis is a sonnet, yes? I am nobody's expert, but am thinking that it is. I want to say, it is very cute!, but I have never dared to say anything of yours is "cute" and mightn't survive intact if you go for your axe, so I will simply say that this poem delighted me and left me smiling at this remarkable scientific expert of a feathered fellow. Absolutely delightful, dear BFF!
ReplyDeleteIt is sonnet-ish in form, now that you mention it, but has too many lines--14 is max.Also it's kind of supposed to rhyme or at least have ten syllables a line, none of which I seem to have done. I don't care tho, since you are delighted anyway. ;) Thank you, Shay.
Deletethe secrets of all things do seem to emerge from the dark, in those nighty vigils. a charming view into this brainy bird's bower ~
ReplyDeleteThe masterful wordsmithing in this poem has me suitably awed. Just wonderful, Joy. I especially delighted in the closing couplet.
ReplyDeleteI love the introduction of the Bird Alchemist in the first stanza as hero blue, an ‘aficionado of the woven twig, knight-errant of the whipping wind’, He’s a gentleman, to fetch his lady favours, and scholar. A sonnet is the best form for this portrait of a hero, and the final line is inspired!
ReplyDeleteYes, there is obvious delight -- relish -- in this, and you take the hero trope for a happy lope in birdland. The quest of the alchemist works on the imagination the way a Gawain jousts -- with heat and mindful heart. There is a birdlike trim to this, matter-of-fact in its celestial routines, accomplishing with digestion what takes a hero on a road of trials. Amen and hallelloo. Some frisky wordplay that made me think of Stevens with a hit of helium in its cookery. Thanks for bringing this delightful glove to earthweal - Brendan
ReplyDeleteWhat a superb poem, full of delights. I do love the end:
ReplyDelete" victorious he rose each dawn,
worms transmuted into song"
I see the bird of wisdom and mystery, it's masked owl face, a thinker a doer. An alchemist transforming things for the better. A bird of mystery who sees from every angle in life.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the sonnet form and you worked it wonderfully as it was sublime to the message.
Truly enjoyable