Mating Call
First glances can be deceptive
She stands stilt-legged
where rushes
fringe the lily-pond.
His wings undulate,
screen the sun
as he peers down
with hunger.
Ignoring his calls,
water spurts from her neb;
he swoops to catch a koi
and her eye.
I’m currently writing flash fiction called ‘Natura Naturans,’ and that could have been the title here too. Nice poem.
Thanks Jay. I’ll get a look at your work sometime.
Eira
Is she being coy as “he swoops to catch a koi
and her eye”, Eira?
Luigi x
I’d say she was coy, Luigi – very clever!
Eira
Lovely!
” as he peers down
with hunger.”
Not for the koi! 😉
Is not this what men do too? Capturing the mating game, whether by humans, two- footed or four-footed.
The inferance s that she is only too aware. The poet sees meaning in everything.
Alison x
Thanks Alison! I’ve followed your lead and started bringing some poems across from UKA. This is an old one that I’d almost forgotten about.
Eirax
Well imaged allusional short piece. Ha, I knew not the neb! (“beak or bill of a bird,” Old English nebb “beak, nose; face, countenance; beak-shaped thing,” common Germanic (cf. Old Norse nef “beak, nose,” Middle Dutch nebbe “beak,”) Made me look! Mitch
Glad this made you look, Mitch!
Eira
Nice little poem, Capricorn. I didn’t know the word ‘neb’ either. Sounds like a northern English dialect word.
Good double-meaning of ‘hunger’. Not sure about ‘undulate’ though. I’ve never heard this word in my life and it doesn’t conjure up anything for me. Maybe you could describe the process of ‘undulation’ with a simile or something?
Undulate describes the movement of the bird’s wings. Glad you like the poem
Eira