Belated Words

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Abandonment

Written by

Leo

in

The nest, eloquently laid of brittle twigs, holds
a knitted cup of coffee/color pine needles mingled
with wispy leaves and lies in the branching Y
of Pyracantha, framed by Aprils’ white corymbs
and shielded by the tan brick wall of my home.

Four blue/gray air-brushed eggs glow a tinge
of brown speckling. All has been abandoned.
They lie, lovingly deprived of apprehensions,
of ever wondering why; what forced their mother
to be to flee one instinct for another.

Perhaps, our prying eyes or the cat crouching,
or the bullying gang of jays flaunting
their colors; threatening hate crimes.
Perhaps, it was only a roving eye, a perceived
greener tree…an inexplicable unease.

Comments

5 responses to “Abandonment”

  1. Anne Avatar
    Anne

    There’s something so sad and poignant about an abandoned nest. You capture a really sinister sense of foreboding here too though, that ‘inexplicable unease’ as you end the poem sends quite a chill through me. Very well executed, and I do like some of the words here – ‘Pyracantha’ and ‘corymbs’, lovely!

    Reply
    1. Leo Avatar
      Leo

      The poem was, I think, going to be longer but when that phrase appeared (magicly) I kept repeating it over and over and knew that was where it should end. In the last line I felt myself no longer speaking of birds but of humans. Leo

      Reply
      1. Anne Avatar
        Anne

        Interesting you say that about the possible shift from focus on birds- I can see what you mean.
        And I think the poem finishes at the right point too, allowing a kind of unease to filter through in its sudden abandonment and full stop.
        Some very sad poems recently though. 😦

  2. Susan L Daniels Avatar
    Susan L Daniels

    This is so sad. When I was a kid I found an abandoned hummingbird nest, tiny and so beautiful, with tiny eggs in it. This has the feel of that experience to it.

    Reply
    1. Leo Avatar
      Leo

      Thanks for reading, Susan. This one was (is) a Brown Thrasher’s nest. They seem a lot more skiddish than some birds.

      Reply

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