POEMS/ An Irruption of Pine Siskins
An Irruption of Pine Siskins
A trembling of tiny finches
were ravaging a thistle sock last week,
emptying its contents every day.
Arriving as a group
they fed communally,
each striving for a perfect perch,
their rapid back and forth
from branch to feeder
a recapitulation in a fugue of motion,
its theme and counterpoint,
developed in their frantic need
for food, their fear of predators.
Now they have left
as suddenly as they appeared,
their agitated flight
a constant trémulo
that speaks of dangers
coming on the wind.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)
A trembling of tiny finches
were ravaging a thistle sock last week,
emptying its contents every day.
Arriving as a group
they fed communally,
each striving for a perfect perch,
their rapid back and forth
from branch to feeder
a recapitulation in a fugue of motion,
its theme and counterpoint,
developed in their frantic need
for food, their fear of predators.
Now they have left
as suddenly as they appeared,
their agitated flight
a constant trémulo
that speaks of dangers
coming on the wind.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)