Dovecote***
A dozen doves have dug themselves
A bunker from the cold;
Beneath my scrappy bushes blow'n
I watch them as they fold
Their streamlined wings of radiance
Reflecting golden glow;
I know they’ll vanish from my view
Into the squalls of snow.
As shadows loom, their numbers wane
From fifteen at the height
Of Sunday’s sunny frozen noon,
Ere first of them took flight
From needled beds laid down by pines
The wind-whipped days do clout;
Brown billiard balls they scatter
As squirrels flush them out.
Night gathers round, a chill descends
My feathered guests have gone
Into the dark, I know not where
A fragile branch upon?
To weather there the wicked night;
Heads huddled in their breasts
And wake to greet the warm sunshine
If they should so be blessed.
Kathleen Mortensen © 2008
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8 of Kat's friends had this to say::
I like the rhyme scheme, never though of rhyming clout with out :) but i always thought doves were white!
great poem :) Love it.
N
It will be warmer soon... I've always felt sorry for animals that have to brace the cold winters. xx
lovely I'm crazy about doves anyhow - you gave them a story
That is creepy. I just googled it. Great poem as always Kat. I think it would be funny to have a news program where all the news is read in the form of Kat's poetry.
Very lovely ... feels like a lazy sunday curled up on a chair by the window, good book at hand, glass of wine perhaps and watching the doves do their thing in between
I found myself worrying about the birds in your poem! It's probably because the pigeons don't fare well here in the winter. Their numbers dwindle, not because they are flying away, but because they starve or are eaten by the ravens. I think the ravens only go after the sick or starving ones, so they are probably just hurrying the process of dying along a bit.
It does amaze me how you do this; create a serious poem using rhyme. I wish I could do that. Rhyming makes me silly.
The poem is both lovely & somber-- really nice-- love the billard balls image (& others, too). Thanks for directing my attention to it!
You were correct. I did enjoy this.
We have a pair of Mourning Doves that live nearby. I enjoy their song and watching them on our back deck as they strut around and eat at the feeder...
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