If I had a yellow breast, I would perch in high shadows.
And in my dreams, if I had to fly, I would fly quickly
because if I shone, the tabby on the ground would
not be fooled. He knows these trees do not flower.
Above me, bark rains down. And as his lifting paw
reaches me I sense Don’t move. And I don’t.
~Lola Haskins “Goldfinch” from Homelight
The bird flying up at the windowpane
aspired to the blue sky reflected in it
but learned the hard truth and flew off again.
Was it a finch, a blue tit or a linnet?
I couldn’t quite identify the strain.
Checking a pocket guide to get it right
(The Birds of lreland, illustrated text)
I note the precise graphic work and definite
descriptions there, and yet I’m still perplexed.
I only glimpsed the bird in busy flight:
a bit like a goldfinch, like the captive one
perched on a rail, by Rembrandt’s young disciple,
except for the colouring, blue, yellow and green.
A tit so, one of those from the bird table
who whirr at hanging nuts and grain.
Off he flew. Now there’s a mist out there
and a mist in here that wouldn’t interest him
since what he wants is sky and open air.
He’s in the trees; I’m trying one more time
to find an opening in the stratosphere.
~Derek Mahon “At the Window”
In this world full of predators and prey,
even perching high on a tree branch,
motionless as a leaf or a bird-like blossom,
is risking a sharp-eyed hunter’s detection.
Or flying, oblivious, head-long into an enticing
reflection of blue sky might take me down
– any move I make could be my last –
So perhaps the moves I make,
whether subtle or grand,
must mean more than simply avoiding
being eaten by the eater.
Instead, I move with grace and purpose
to forage to feed my young,
to offer a bit of flashing gold to a gray landscape,
or fly with abandon because it is exactly
what my wings are created to do –
even when I’m aware hungry whiskers twitch below…
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