POETRY CORNER – The Regional Reading (4)
– 05/03/17
Hosted by Kathabela Wilson
This is the fourth in our series of haiku Poetry Corners featuring haiku poets who will be visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico in September for Haiku North America 2017*. Our corners develop from the themes highlighted by their poems and concerns. Here we focus on the illusive age of birds . . . from the prolific nests Lynne Jambor watches in Vancouver, British Columbia, to the aging eagle Carole MacRury documents on the coast in Point Roberts, Washington, USA.
Carole MacRury recently brought this question to my attention, something she has wondered for a long time. “How do we know the age of birds?” Baby birds are evident, but what about aging birds? In the area where she lives, profuse with bird life, she has watched closely, and witnessed especially the aging of an eagle, which she presents here.
~ Kathabela
Old Eagle by Carole MacRury.
Carole MacRury
To everything there is a season…
late afternoon…
the eagle’s shadow
meets mine
“I’ve always wondered how one can tell the age of birds until I came across this old bald eagle. You could see obvious signs of aging. Its beak was cracked and worn, its feathers tattered and its bright eagle eyes had paled, much as my own eyes have paled with age. Perched on a large rock, wings spread wide in defense, it tried to fend off a swooping gull who had sensed its weakness and was trying to attack. Normally, it would have flown off at my approach, much less a pesky gull. Instead, it hobbled from rock to rock, making itself look as fierce as possible as it tried to summon a burst of energy for flight. The piercing cry of the gull took me back to my own youth as I felt a connection to this old eagle’s last stand.”
beach nap
my youth
in the gull’s cry
The Age of Birds (Photo – Carole MacRury).
“One week later, this eagle was found floundering in shallow water and died shortly thereafter. I believe he was part of a 25-year pair that had lived in Point Roberts for as long as I’ve lived there. Its mate may have already died. Their nest has remained empty since the death of this eagle.”
spring gusts…
a feather floats out
of an empty nest
“To everything there is a season…for us, for eagles…there is a time of birth, a time of death. I found it poignant that this grand eagle came to the end of its life in the spring just as the other resident eagles were beginning to nest.”
going home…
the last rays of sun
in the eagle’s wings
Carole MacRury lives in Point Roberts, WA, where she follows the lives of birds. She Says: “The photos of the old eagle were taken a week before he died of old age. He was fending off a gull, who sensed his weakness. You can see by his features how very old he is, more than 25 years I’m sure. Maybe longer. I am happy to have paid homage to this very special old eagle.”
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Old Eagle (Photo – Carole MacRury).
Lynne Jambor
spring rains
a crow’s nest
disintegratesin the Chinese garden
the heron rests
between heaven and earth
Lynne Jambor lives in Vancouver BC’s West End. There, she tells us “in Stanley Park resides the largest heron colony in North America, between tennis courts and the city proper…a very urban environment. Last year there were about 80 nests, this years count isn’t done yet. The crows share this part of the park and further into the city proper….walking around a corner might get you bombed by crows as often the nest is nearby! The battle between an eagle who lives nearby and the parents of the heron babies is intense.”
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*The Regional Reading will be performed live at the conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in September, 2017, led by Kathabela Wilson. The dramatic presentation will be accompanied by Rick Wilson on flutes of the various regions. Poets from Australia, India, Canada, United States, and many other regions will be presenting. Look for their haiku in future Poetry Corners. See the newly updated program as it develops here.
> You may also want to check:
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POETRY CORNER – The Regional Reading (3)
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POETRY CORNER – The Regional Reading (2)
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POETRY CORNER – The Regional Reading (1)
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