Sunday, April 5, 2015

April 5, 2014 http//sundayswhirligig.blogspot.com/ Magpies & Hawks --Writer's Digest Day 5/ A Snake in the Garden


parable, war, suitcase, crack, careful, fruit, pounding, enough, birdsong, fathom, save, dispute

Magpies & Hawks

the message is in the birdsong    they sing back and forth

call for each other      greet the day      the morning sun

as it rises above taos mountain      the nighttime is cracked open

for a new day     they sing the stories of their kind      passed down

for generations      tell of heroic deeds of mighty wars

of the afternoon the magpie clan      fought the hawk clan

hard to call a winner      a brave magpie leader was killed

hawk had gotten a good pounding      that day he packed his suitcase

moved his clan to another territory      he had enough of the old dispute

wanted to save his children      from the old wars

fighting fathoms      carefully they would build a new life

April 3, 2015

______________________________

Writer's Digest  PAD Challenge Day 5.



A Snake In The Garden

when a little girl     a very small child      while visiting 


my great aunt maggie’s farm      i would often go there to play 

with my aunt         my mother would take me & pick me up later      

one day while in the vegetable garden         i was playing in the rows

i remember i lifted a bean leaf       large and green      


there staring back at me      coiled beneath the beans         

was a great big black snake         i’m not sure      

but i think he was smiling      & spoke to me     

in a breathy whisper      he said      hello little girl

i was so frightened      i fled the garden      & never returned to play there


for fear      he would be waiting for me

April 5, 2015









13 comments:

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

The lessons of nature...of bird wars and snakes. I used to fear snakes and now I love their visits to the garden...so elusive, so important and still feared given a wide berth.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

The magpie and hawk poem is wonderful, a parable with a message for humans. If only we knew to move ground to avoid disputes instead of fighting for the same piece of turf. Sigh. In the second, I can see the small you lifting up the leaves and finding the snake. Interesting that he smiled and appeared friendly. I remember once, gardening as a young mom, I came eyeball to eyeball with one of those HUGE green creatures with horns and huge eyes that look like aliens. Freaked me out! I took him out behind the back fence and hoped he'd go away.

annell4 said...

Was that a horned worm?

Anonymous said...

interesting write...

Old Egg said...

How we learn about relationships in you writing today. The battle of the birds and the suspicious encounter with the snake both give us lessons in life.

Anonymous said...

Both of these pieces have a mythic quality and tone to them. I love both of them, my friend. The hawks and magpies tell us about the danger of clinging to our preferred comfort zones, being actual physical places, or those of the mind and emotions. The second one harkens back to the temptation in the Garden of Eden story, and reminds us of where our fear of snakes originated. Wonderful writing, Annell.

Elizabeth

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

A noble thing, saving one's children from the old wars, the old disputes and feuds. Too bad that magpies are smarter than people in this regard!


Whirligig Bits and Pieces

humbird said...

Small word phrases build life stories, reminding of choice we always have and freedom if not afraid to go beyond our boundaries....

Anonymous said...

wonderful.

C.C. said...

The voice in both of these pieces sounds like the telling of legends. Very well told.

Jae Rose said...

Ten transition in the two pieces is almost like accumulated wisdom...of facing fear and seeing beyond....I hope...I hope xo

Sumana Roy said...

wise birds and the little girl...and the first learning step to 'let go'...nicely put...

Gen Giggles said...

What excellent story poems.

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