Night heron at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in NH

I’ve been immersed in birds this summer. I’ve long enjoyed watching (and writing about) the birds at my feeders (here and here and lots of other places!). This year I’ve upped my interest and spent a considerable amount of time photographing birds (or at least trying to) and reading about them. (Note–If you’re looking for a fascinating non-fiction read, pick up The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson.) This intensified bird interest has percolated through my life, emerging unexpectedly. For example, my responses to Laura Purdie Salas’s past three 15 Words or Less challenges have all centered on birds, regardless of the photo prompt! Here’s last week’s example, in response to this filtered photo of a fountain in Cyprus:

Photo credit to Laura Purdie Salas

Inspiration

Fledgling dreams
flutter
in smoldering ashes
From flames
Phoenix
rises
soars

©M. Hogan, 2018

Then this week I started to share my recent bird rescue adventure for my Slice of Life, and it evolved into a 4-part series! (If you’re interested, the first part is here.) In short, I’ve got birds on the brain, so Christie Wyman’s bird-related poem challenge felt like a natural fit.

Here are a couple of bird-related poems I’ve written recently:

Swallows

Swift swooping swallows
Wing through shadows
At dawn and dusk in a
Lively
Loop-de-loop
Of aerial predation
What a show!

©2018 M.  Hogan

Swallow and reflection–I’m still working on those action shots, darn it!

Then, back to another love of mine: Dandelions! Kat Apel, superstar Poetry Swapper, wrote a double reverse acrostic dandelion poem for me. What? I never even knew such a thing was possible! Stunning! I read it again and again, awed by this poetic feat. She makes it all sound so natural and fluid, yet manages to stay within that insanely ambitious structure! Then, to top it off, she presents it with a delightful photo and all sorts of playful fonts. A visual feast as well!

Kat also included a wonderful assortment of photo postcards–Beautiful pictures with often humorous friendship quotes. Another big “YES!” for the Summer Poetry Swap. Thanks so much, Kat!

This week’s Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Christie Wyman whom I recently met in real life! We crossed paths in July at the Heinemann Teacher Tour in Portsmouth, NH. Before that (and since then) I’ve spent loads of time enjoying her writing at her blog, Wondering and Wandering. Stop by to enjoy the flock of poems that have flown in for today’s gathering!