16 June 2007

The Tail-End Of Their Conversations

I caught the tail-end of their
conversations, forty or more
as they left roosts in our trees.
They were heading West

for the day’s grazing in pairs,
riding the air with slow, sure
strokes of articulate Black
Cockatoo wings.

Calling their fellows – ‘kee-ow’,
come this way, ‘kee-ow’, come,
follow me; the sombre grey of
a damp-dawn-breaking sky

alive with sinuous silhouettes
animated in a rare display of
beauty. I was pleased to be
there. Just to share, to see.

A magpie chortled goodbye,
reclaimed the empty air, a crow
jeered his sentiment from
a lone perch nearby.
© 7 June 2007, I.D. Carswell

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