Thursday, May 20, 2010

Red Birds


Beneath heavy, darkening skies, the
canvas of green, white, gray, off-white
is punctuated by red, first a flash here and
a small spot there, then reds, reds of every
shade, an ocean of reds teaming with reds,
a heavenly host of reds soaring, stopping,
hopping, bouncing, walking, prancing.
Then a sharp whistlewind, a crack of
branch-like wood, and the reds shift into
coordinated motion, simultaneous
eruption, then calm, quiet, long periods of
seeming inactivity, followed by short
but intense bursts of motion, movement,
independence suddenly folded into a
unity of red, red.

A roar bursts forth from the un-treed stands,
and the St. Louis Cardinals win 4-2.

The Cunning Poets Society poem-prompt for May is “birds.” No stipulation was made as to whether or not it was birds of the flying variety. I attended the Cardinals baseball game Thursday, they did indeed beat Florida 4-2, and I got inspired.
Photo courtesy of Photobucket.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

i love it!

:-)

my dad took me to a couple of games. we sat in the bleachers.
it was great...as i remember.

Maureen said...

Well that was an unexpected and great ending!

I like "sharp whistlewind". . . and all the sounds and action here.

Kelly Sauer said...

lol - did NOT see that ending coming! terrific poem, Glynn, and ditto what Maureen said about "sharp whistlewind." She knows all, doesn't she?

Billy Coffey said...

Oh wow, that was fantastic! Loved that twist.

Louise Gallagher said...

So glad you got inspired.

And who are the Cardinals?

Just kidding!

Love the twist!

Anonymous said...

AWESOME. Seriously. Love it.

Cassandra Frear said...

Hey

What happened to the symphony of birdies?

Did you just use bait and switch on me? LOL

Jeff Jordan said...

My oldest son loves the Cardinals. I got him a Cardinals hat and jersey five years ago when I was in St. Louis. The jersey is long gone, but he still wears the hat... Albert Pujols is still his favorite player.

I like the poem as much as a Braves fan can like it:)

Sandra Heska King said...

Ha Ha! I should have caught on with the crack of branch-like wood.

I think tigers eat cardinals, but they're in a league of their own.

S. Etole said...

I was thinking that that was a bunch of rambunctious birds ...

Duane Scott said...

I loved all the adjectives.

I was taking a walk the other day and I saw a bird on a fence post and I thought, "A few months ago, I would've just said the 'the bird flew away.'

And now, after being exposed to the blogging community and writing, I would say, "The red crested bird balanced on the rusty wired fence, bobbing his tail to counter the onset of gusting wind. Glancing nervously at the approaching jogger, he reluctantly took flight, soaring into the nearby wooded hedge."

Man, I love words. :)

Unknown said...

Very red, in every way. Enjoyed. Sounds like you did, too.

If a bait and switch, a good bait and switch and that doesn't happen every day. You've redeemed a con. :)