There have been various poems posted on the Loch Garten Osprey threads: here is a new one of mine, to celebrate the fledging of the first youngster on the Loch Garten nest for 2010--
FLYING IN THE WIND
The gentle morning broke as the sun put out its lissom threads of red and bronze upon the nest-
I felt that today, I was to be as one with this wind which has buffeted me strongly for days now, and bent our frail bodies to its will.
My brothers tried to move their wings against the skies, but failed to shake themselves from their anchor on the twigs crackling hard beneath our new bright talons.
I raised them, my wings, my reason for being, feeling their feathers soft but brave and powerful, and jumped up, and jumped up again...
I lifted, and felt stronger than before, pushed with my newly strengthened legs, and tried again: the greedy wind grasped me upwards, and I let it take me up, upwards and above - I was flying at last, flying so that my breath was almost taken from me in the excitement of flight for the very first time.
As I curved around the nest which had been my only home since I began, I felt with myself the oneness of my being alive, of flying at long last in Nature's true embrace - I was at Home in the world itself, and nothing could take this from me.
Lindybird what are you trying to do to me. I am always a bit emotional while I watch our beautiful family at LG. Flood of tears but just wonderful words. What a talent you have, thanks for sharing it with us.
Margobird
Oh Dear! - dear margobird - not too many tears, I hope! Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you All.
LINDA thank you got there at last. A truely beautiful poem. Different from the others. OH likens it to Jonathon Livingston Seagull!
Wrote this one and put it on the Osprey Group pages last year, just after the young birds all flew off for the first time, on their long journey to Africa,Spain & Portugal. (Should explain to those who don't know, that these youngsters who have only been flying a few weeks, all leave the nest and Scotland, to fly South for the winter, and in fact don't return until they are ready to breed themselves, at least 2 years later)
L O C H G A R T E N F A R E W E L L
I skirt the bright Loch for one last time
Before turning my wing to the South:
To leave my childhood life behind;
My sisters and parents both.
---
I've grown up amongst tall Scottish pines
In a family built on love,
With a Father strong who's fished for us long
And a Mother who's put us above.
Now a journey awaits me, both dangerous and far,
My new learnt wings will just have to try
To keep me aloft through both hard winds and soft
The great distance I now have to fly.
There'll be an urge to keep on - an urge to fly down
Though the waters below appear cool,
I may stop for awhile but press on,
One more mile, over river and forest and town.
My life may be brief or short on relief
From the troubles I may have to face.
But I'll struggle to stay on the right Osprey way;
If I fail, I'll have no sense of grief.
As warm Africa calls, with no barriers or walls
I'll go where the Ancients have flown:
Above cities and trains, to strange lakes and vast plains, to
Return to the places we've known.
I'll fish in those waters so foreign from here
My huge eyes will not miss chance of prey.
I'll preen feathers, up high, as I perch there to spy,
With my fellows I will have come Home.
Hi Lindybird
What a fabulous bit of poetry once again {big smile}
I could feel my eyes starting to water a little LOL
It is telling us that the Osprey's life is as it is and there is only one way and that is forward and onwards.
No looking back at one Osprey's past life, as it is long gone and no-one can bring it back.
It makes us think that birds, or any wild animals are a lot more accepting of their lot and will live their life as it should be lived - to the full.
We as humans are so different, and can be a lot more complex depending on how we handle our lives.
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Two wonderful works of art.
Reading the words makes you feel as if your are the Osprey and all that the world beholds in front of you.
Thank you...
Robert
No, Thank You!
Lindybird you have done it again, just a wonderful poem. Of course it makes me tearful, ospreys so close to my heart. Cannot believe I only found them about three years ago. Thanks so much.
Thanks margo - I know you love the ospreys deeply.
Here are a few lines I wrote this Spring, when the resident female at LG, called EJ, returned to once again to claim her nest. She waited there for several days, hoping for her mate from the previous year, a younger osprey we called Odin, to appear: She sat upon the nest holding a half eaten fish, looking pensively outwards and always in the same direction, the way in which she hoped he would appear (he did, eventually):
W A I T I N G
I'm waiting and I'm looking, with a fish still in my hand-I'm hoping for my Big Brave Boy - I'm sure you'll understand.A girl just has to look her best, and eat a healthy dietSo, when the wind blows on her head (I know you'll keep this quiet)All her feathers will look good: her claws will all be neat-I've always been fastidious, and looked after my feet.
I'm trying not to worry, that another girl has bagged him-He's such a handsome lad, you know, Someone Else might just have grabbed himAnd kept her talons on him tight - but surely, it will be alright?So, I'm sitting here now, all agog - I'm scanning all the skies.I'm sure he'll like someone like me, who's motherly and wise...My eyes are bright, my wings are strongOh! he's bound to come back before too long!
Lindybird you are right I do love ospreys they just fill me with wonder and amazement. I like all birds of prey but for me ospreys are magical. Your poem is wonderful as usual and another one to keep. I have all of your poems saved and during the winter months when we are bereft of ospreys will spend many a happy hour reading them all again. OH says why don't I do something but I am not as clever as you. I keep thinking of a first line and trying to build on it but nothing comes to my mind. I thought you would like to know OH ran a copy of your poem for me off and has it in a frame in his study now. The words to "Waiting" make me feel the same way as EJ was feeling when she was waiting for her wonderful Odin to return.