Varied Thrush

A tribute to a beautiful bird in this poem that also reflects on bird-safe windows. 

Varied Thrush

Crash! feathers dot the pane
varied thrush lies fallen
feet claw a last breath

No! a bed of straw
in a shoebox --
rest here a while

warm round body
soft feathers cradled
that pulse -- mine or yours?

I study your silent form
learn your name,
your ways

a breast of sunshine 
grey overcoat with gold-flecked wings
fluffy white belly

blond eyebrows
elegant slate-grey beak
dark eyes half-closed

I’ll listen for your song
from the darkness
as it opens and closes damp spring days

as it cuts through heavy air
follows the retreating snowline
up the mountains

I’ll frost the window glass
you’ll be the last one
to believe it was air

- Irene Plett 

Note: The seventh and eighth stanzas include found poetry sourced in Birds of Coastal British Columbia by Nancy Baron and John Acorn (1997, Lone Pine Publishing), at p. 187. 
Topics: birds, bird collisions, Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)