Rose Coloured Starling

He came from Hungary
or so they said.
I wonder how long it took.

He seems to like island life
but not so much his neighbours.
He snaps and shrieks,
attacks at will,
chasing even gulls away.

And then he sits and looks around
puffing his pink chest out proudly.

Blackbirds peer around the gatepost
wary, wanting to share the guarded feast.
But there is no quarter given.
This foreigner wants to keep it all.
He doesn't eat -
just watches.

I hope he'll stay but
I know he won't.
It'll soon be time to find his way home.
He was welcomed here and he
rested.
But most of all he was spared
the horrors of being the twitchers' prey.

On Ormaclete Beach

The sea picked up it's skirts and ran,
leaving silver strands behind,
and pebbles nestling in the sand
for tiny turnstones to find.

Night Visitor

The silence is tranquil.
Eyes close gently and I feel
a soft breath beside me as my friend sleeps.

Then a sound.
I listen.
I try to decipher
then nothing.

Eyes close.
The quiet sleeping of my friend
does not disturb me.
The sound comes again -
a distant rasp of a click clack.

Click clack; trick track, brick brack;
Ceaseless, getting louder.

I lie awake
A smile pulls at the edges of my mouth.
Sleep is no longer important because I want to listen.

I know this sound.
I stay awake
revelling in the privilege
of sharing the night with
an insomniac corncrake.

The Blackbird's Wing.

A bee hovers
humming quietly
as it flirts with a rose.

I sit,
patient,
waiting
to hear the swallow sing
and see the dappled sunlight on a blackbird's wing.

Something New

The promise of something new hangs in the air.
Will I grasp it?

I think I might
but what will become of the past.
Can I take it with me or
would that be wrong.

I shall wait
and wonder.
Its happy time waiting.
My friend waits with me.

Heat

The warmth of the day filled my head,
leaving no room for usual thoughts.

Anger and frustration sat on the sideline
watching. And waiting.

But the sun kept shining and all through the day
the birds filled in the gaps with their songs.

Then the cold north wind brought sleet
and the contented peace was displaced.

And tomorrow more sun is forecast.
My friend and I like tomorrows.

Waiting for the Sun

Moments ago the sun was shining

but oddly it made me feel sad.

Thoughts turned inward and searching

for answers that I never had.

Then rain came and wind

blew cobwebs away

and I felt a strange calmness

wash over the day.

The sun is still hiding

and I wait by the door

watching the raindrops

bounce from the floor.

I am patient and know

that the sun will come back.

So I'll sit here and ponder

as life stays on track.