Leaf 271 – Looking Back
This poem was actually prompted
by seeing a firecrest, rather than a warbler. I saw it startlingly close-up,
flitting about the bushes and then disappearing up a tree in my old hometown,
and at the time it stopped and seemed to look up at me with as much curiosity
as I must have been looking back at it. I changed the species in the poem
partly for phonetic reasons, but also because – well, “firecrest.” – Listen to
it! – Firecrest is quite a striking name for such a small species of bird, and so I feared, in this instance at least, ornithological authenticity might derail the poem.
Watching a warbler
watching me –
eyes flit silently,
short hops jumping
from bush to bush.
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