Monday, 28 March 2016

Poetry Blog No 144 Chorus of a Winter Dawn


CHORUS OF A WINTER DAWN


This poem in "free" form plays with a contrast between iambic lines (unstressed, stressed- e.g. of long ) and trochaic ones (stressed, unstressed- e.g. cry-ing ). The last verse is an example of a literal image that can also be read as metaphorical.
The Pied Currawong is a large, mostly black bird, with a bright yellow eye. Small patches of white are confined to the under tail, the tips and bases of the tail feathers and a small patch towards the tip of each wing (visible in flight). The bill is large and black and the legs are dark grey-black. Both sexes are similar, although the female may sometimes be greyer on the underparts. Young Pied Currawongs are duller and browner than the adults. From Birds in Backyards http://www.birdsinbackyards.net
Currawong is pronounced like curry but instead of y=ee sound replace with another short ah sound and wong rhymes with song. 

 






CHORUS OF A WINTER DAWN

Black-coated like
Priests of the progress of the light,
Celebrants of day's nativity,
Currawongs
Have perched among
The susurrant, dark leaves
Of long-enduring, eucalyptus trees
To chorus dawning clarity;
Dark-silhouetted on the yellow-white,
Dawn-bright
Vastness.

Alighting from their windy way,
They take their swaying stand,
Crying for increase of day
In this ancient land.

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