Starlings and Willows. Poetry and Poetry Audio Blog

Starlings and Willows

In this episode, I discuss the flight of birds and the sway of trees and how starling and the willow might give exemplar for our interactions with others. The poems the Starling and the Willow, When Will We Grow Together, and Starling are voiced. Hope you will join me and click in for a listen. The Starling is published below. 

The Starling

singing starlings

iridescent divas

bejewelled, feathered

chirping constellations

shooting, falling

settling, nestling

rising again

with the newborn

crepuscular coma

whistled aria


performing 

pinioned mimic

chords resonate

songs shimmer

in the emerging


mind/space

a diamond cymbal 

prismatic and aloft


syncopating 

with
the dawn's chorus

Starling is published Domesticate the Heavens. When Will We Grow Together is posted in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels. The Starling and the Willow is published in Strays. Please visit my blog to further explore the accompanying photos and essay, some bonus poetry, and keep up-to-date with all my writing. 

Longer works can be found on the my amazon page.

Reviews

[Vol]

Pryde,
I have long said, "the image IS the message." I just wish I'd known you were out there when I was still teaching. I'm an old fart, and wish i knew more about things like setting up a website, or a blog (I actually bought the equipment to do just that, but find myself quite intimidated, but not ready to give up.) In the meantime I will be thrilled to study your excellent poetic sense and skill... I do wonder where you live, in the Americas or England, because we have such differing points of view about starlings. Ha! I remember the aviary at a zoo in Tennesse and a keeper inside with a net trying to catch a starling invader who called the "rats with wings." I've been enthralled more than once by a large murmuration... OOPS I just saw you are in Vancouver, so I no longer have to wonder.
Vol

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you so much, Vol. If you have a smart phone you generally have all you need to get started and then don't worry about the product but the process and before you know it, you will have spoken word. It is the process that is most rewarding, for me at least.

I live in Northern Canada now. I speak of the European starling which is a very beautiful and vocally gifted bird, some even learning to mimic human language. Far from a rat. LOL

Thank you so much for this throughtful and kind review.

[Vol]

Pryde,
So this poem is "spoken word?" I did not realize that when I read it... I have to say, though, your images are what grabbed me. Imagery is what I look for and seems to be quite elusive for a lot of folks.
Vol

[Robert Trakofler]

P.S. I am now jumping down the starling rabbit hole after reading this

[Robert Trakofler]

Ha ha I love it and I love your selection of music :) I want to fly to that willow and nest there:) your voice melts in my mind and is only rivaled with your fantastic metaphors I can not say this enough I LOVE YOUR MIND how you manage to meld science with poetry is amazing... I dabble at it like a duck.. you swim with it like a superlative swan! This is just wonderful

[Pryde Foltz]

You are too kind, Robert:) It makes me so happy to know my work resonates with you like that. What else could any of us want outside of the poems themselves? Looking good in your photo too btw. Much love:)

[Neville]

I have always said never underestimate a starling .. but not a murmeration to anyone okay, it has got to be our beautiful secret .. beautifully poemed & again, a real treat for the ears too .. Neville

[Pryde Foltz]

Thanks so much, Neville. Yes, let us cheer the starling on to understand his true strength:)

[Betty Hermelee]

Such vivid imagery here in this lovely poem of nature and a magnificent bird that we appreciate for its beauty, and and it's adaptation to changes in their adaptability and times zones, places...not only their beauty and adaptability but their nesting habits as well...their arias are for mating and for us to enjoy
a beautiful tribute to nature....
Warmly, B

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you so much for the read and your lovely comment. Yes, those starlings are most attractive:)

[Betty Hermelee]

You are very welcome!
Warmly, B

[Eilis]

I find the story of starlings in America fascinating. I’m not sure if their travel here also contributed to their presence in Canada but they are a fascinating bird. Species that thrive out of their natural environment are an interesting subject to ponder on their own. Their presence can have such differing results, much like us as we move through the world.

I really appreciate your ode to the starling here. You’ve described their appearance so creatively yet it resonates so well with the reality. They do have the appearance of being pulled from the night sky. Your portrait here is lovely. Appreciation for a bird that isn’t always appreciated. I really enjoyed this poem as a keen observer of and identifier with birds myself.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you so much, Eilis. The starling has made our urban environments just that much better:)

[Dylan Macadham]

My interpretation ... Starlings are the Ideas of Mind.
Compelling write!

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you. Always:)

[Thomas W Case]

Beautiful imagery in your creative work. Powerful.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Thomas:)

[Amy R]

Wow, what a magnificent write, all the rich imagery shown here towards nature, as we always say nature is natural beauty. Loved the sensory words used as well.

Loved it, thanks for sharing..
-Amy

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you so much, Amy:)

[Amy R]

You're welcome

[Soren]

Nature has a way of making each piece a wonder in its own way, A starling and a willow not a peacock or an oak but each beautiful in a different way to the eye of the beholder is the beauty. Just as a Browning is not a Shakespeare they each have their wonder and appeal. A lovely poem of nature in its grandure.

[Pryde Foltz]

They do indeed have their own appeal and when they find a way to fit together, we all benefit from it:)