Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m celebrating nests this week physical and metaphorical.
I also want to give a shoutout to Author and Poet Irene Latham for her superb chockfull of poetry revision offerings from the workshop she gave this past Monday, with The Writers’ Loft—it was terrific!
Irene, at her blog Live Your Poem is also our gracious host for this weeks Poetry Friday Roundup, thanks for hosting Irene! Her new dystopian novel in verse book, D-39 A Robodog’s Journey is releasing next Tuesday and she’s sharing some “Poem Friends” from it. Be sure to stop by for many more poems.
FEATHERED CONSTRUCTION
spring stringy leaves
clues of new nest or not—
puzzle wings light-lamp
leggy leaves trail
below cone-wove penthouse-home,
appear wing-parent
checked nest today
sparrow pair ch-chirrup and
beak-fluff trapeze by
To be continued, as feathered progress moves on…
Draft © 2021 Michelle Kogan
Here’s a nest-full of related poems…
The last stanza from Emily Dickinson’s poem:
ALL OVERGROWN BY CUNNING MOSS
But differed in returning –
Since Yorkshire hills are green –
Yet not in all the nests I meet –
Can Nightingale be seen –
Read the beginning of the poem here.
NEST
By Marianne Boruch
I walked out, and the nest
was already there by the step. Woven basket
of a saint
sent back to life as a bird
who proceeded to make
a mess of things. Wind
right through it, and any eggs
long vanished. But in my hand it was
Read the rest of the poem here.
THE AMBITION BIRD
By Anne Sexton
So it has come to this –
insomnia at 3:15 A.M.,
the clock tolling its engine
like a frog following
a sundial yet having an electric
seizure at the quarter hour.
The business of words keeps me awake.
I am drinking cocoa,
the warm brown mama.
I would like a simple life
yet all night I am laying
poems away in a long box.
It is my immortality box,
my lay-away plan,
my coffin.
All night dark wings
flopping in my heart.
Each an ambition bird.
The bird wants to be dropped
from a high place like Tallahatchie Bridge.
He wants to light a kitchen match
and immolate himself.
He wants to fly into the hand of Michelangelo
and come out painted on a ceiling.
Read the rest of the poem here.
THE WEAVER BIRD
By Kofi Awoonor
The weaver bird built in our house
And laid its eggs on our only tree.
We did not want to send it away.
We watched the building of the nest
And supervised the egg-laying.
And the weaver returned in the guise of the owner.
Preaching salvation to us that owned the house.
They say it came from the west
Where the storms at sea had felled the gulls
Read the rest of the poem here.
Happy Nest sighting…
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
Oh, what a marvelous collection, Michelle, and of course, just in time! I have robins, among others, and have not seen them fly to ?, so do not know where they’re living, thus “To be continued, as feathered progress moves on…” Terrific ending.
Michelle, I love your Feathered Construction poem and nest drawings. Great title! You hooked me with “spring stringy leaves” and you kept reeling me in “below cone-wove penthouse-home,” right to your great ending, and my favorite line “beak-fluff trapeze.” It’s wonderful that you have a view of a nest. Our trees are too high to see nests, but I did see Mrs. Cardinal with a flatter breast unless it was a female juvenile that grew quickly. I love watching birds. Thank you for sharing all the other nest poems. Happy nest and bird watching.
Oh, oh, oh! What a fabulous opportunity you’ve had with Irene, Michelle. I love what you’ve done with your learning. And a beautiful collection you’ve hatched here!
I was in Irene’s workshop too! And, I enjoyed it so very much. I’m glad you were there with me…and us…I’m sure there were more Poetry Friday friends too. What a beautiful post. The idea of a nest is so rich. Finding a nest is such a story starter for poets, isn’t it? I love how it moved you.
Michelle, I love your “Feathered Construction” and the idea that it — like its inspiration — is to be continued. It always amazes me how birds build their nests in areas (based on your “Spring Nest”) that are so heavily trafficked by humans. I appreciate their efforts, though, and enjoy watching the process when I can. Thank you for your work, and for the rest of your flock of nest poems as well.
Michelle, I love this nestling nesty post. Your poem draft has some beautiful thoughts and images:
“below cone-wove penthouse-home”
and
“beak-fluff trapeze”
and delightful! I love the sketches too, especially the one with watercolor.
The nest is a wonderful metaphor and I love how you’ve been exploring its richness with your art and “Feathered Construction” poem (and it’s to be continued? Looking forward to it!). Thanks for sharing all the other nasty poems too — all were new to me. I’ll be chirruping the rest of the afternoon. 🙂
That should be “nest-y” not nasty . . .
What a delightful collection of nest poems!
Fascinating Feathered Construction poem about your ‘nest-door neighbors’, Michelle. I look forward to ‘egg-citing’ updates… 🙂
I’ve been watching a nesting wren (and my wood duck box), so nesting is on the brain. Thanks for your poem and the others. I look forward to hearing how your nestlings fare.
A wonderful roundup of spring-y poems. Thanks for sharing these!
Such a fascinating collection, Michelle. Did you know Van Gogh collected nests? I learned it recently… Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com