Red Red Robin and Other Poems


Red Red Robin

You are the master of your territories

And greet me warmly when I visit your home

We wear our bloodied aprons with pride

 

Jenny Wren

Tiny Jemmy Wren

You shelter meekly

Against the winter winds

I offer you my home

But you prefer the frozen fields

 

Kite

You glide above the winter fields

Oblivious to the bright chilled air

It is said that many creatures

Enjoy your majestic theatre

From their places of silent retreat

 

Pigeons

You are called vermin by some

Rats with wings

An unkindness I think

For your hospitality

Shades us all

 

Crow

Master Bird

Your kingdoms stretch far

But your reign is unstable

As you are familiar

With your many subjects

 

Buzzard

Great Buzzard

Beneath this stone

Resurrect yourself

We have an understanding

 

Magpie

The contours of the waves

Are broken by shafts of brilliant sunlight

A solitary magpie awaits the night

It will not sleep as it is counting the stars

 

The Cold Service of all the Nights

I did not witness your birth

Nor will I see your demise

I accept this

You have watched me for so many years

Without emotion

But our friendship endures this comedy

 

Cold Moon/White Queen

Let me caress your breast White Queen

Let me touch your broken heart

So that we may grieve together

 

Cold Moon

You have many masks

Each thinner than the last

I have removed the summer varnish from your portraits

And left them alone in the frost fields

Where they will be far away from your obstructions

 

The Cat with the Green Head

The cat with the green head

Does not celebrate Christmas

For it is illiterate

And stares at ducks

 

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My Smiling Confederates

Let us celebrate this season with joy

And ignore the hardships of the needy

For the mire of their despondency

Does not even stain our boots