May 2016: Bird Poetry and Songs

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Caitlin’s Corner! This month, I am really excited to share my thoughts with you, because I am bringing back an idea for the third year running. What is it? Well, it is no other than bird themed poetry and songs! As years pass, more art is put out into the world through words, and this is to celebrate just that. Without further ado, here are some poems and songs that mention birds that I absolutely love:

Poetry:

1. “Personal” by Tony Hoagland: I recited this poem at school in 2015 for English, and I really love it! My favorite part is “while the air fills up with I’m-Sorries like wheeling birds and the trees look seasick in the wind” because it is very fun to say and the imagery is very cool. Here is the full poem:

Don’t take it personal, they said;

but I did, I took it all quite personal—

the breeze and the river and the color of the fields;

the price of grapefruit and stamps,

the wet hair of women in the rain—

And I cursed what hurt me

and I praised what gave me joy,

the most simple-minded of possible responses.

The government reminded me of my father,

with its deafness and its laws,

and the weather reminded me of my mom,

with her tropical squalls.

Enjoy it while you can, they said of Happiness

Think first, they said of Talk

Get over it, they said

at the School of Broken Hearts

but I couldn’t and I didn’t and I don’t

believe in the clean break;

I believe in the compound fracture

served with a sauce of dirty regret,

I believe in saying it all

and taking it all back

and saying it again for good measure

while the air fills up with I’m-Sorries

like wheeling birds

and the trees look seasick in the wind.

Oh life! Can you blame me

for making a scene?

You were that yellow caboose, the moon

disappearing over a ridge of cloud.

I was the dog, chained in some fool’s backyard;

barking and barking:

trying to convince everything else

to take it personal too.

2. “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers – (314)” by Emily Dickinson: I love how in this poem Emily Dickinson describes hope, something that isn’t concrete, as a bird, which is concrete. It is always there, singing within everyone. Take a look:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

3. “There are Birds Here” by Jamaal May: I love this poem because it is like the author is just telling me a story casually, and yet it still has a lot of meaning:

For Detroit

There are birds here,

so many birds here

is what I was trying to say

when they said those birds were metaphors

for what is trapped

between buildings

and buildings. No.

The birds are here

to root around for bread

the girl’s hands tear

and toss like confetti. No,

I don’t mean the bread is torn like cotton,

I said confetti, and no

not the confetti

a tank can make of a building.

I mean the confetti

a boy can’t stop smiling about

and no his smile isn’t much

like a skeleton at all. And no

his neighborhood is not like a war zone.

I am trying to say

his neighborhood

is as tattered and feathered

as anything else,

as shadow pierced by sun

and light parted

by shadow-dance as anything else,

but they won’t stop saying

how lovely the ruins,

how ruined the lovely

children must be in that birdless city.

4. Here is a poem I came up with a while ago called “The Lonely Tree”:

I was a mere sapling,

sprouts of glimmering tea green leaves

stretching from my fingertips.

I spread my stubby limbs toward the sky.

I strived to mimic my towering brothers,

who leaned over to whisper,

“Even through decay, remember your wooden support.”

I recalled this in my middle age, as

the visible horizon changed color.

Deep hews of crumpled crimson collapsed from the sky.

I dreamt the rumble of a twisted earthquake, the dying whispers

of my family.

I might as well have been a stump in the ground,

looking down to my brothers.

I sobbed tears of yellow, orange, red, but mostly

those of a lifeless brown.

I am bare and chilled,

and decayed to the point of a breakdown.

I remember my wooden support,

but those of my people

are gone.

I now never see the forest for the trees.

There is no longer a forest.

There is only me.

I’m lucky if a bird passes to twitter a hello,

or lucky if a termite decides to

acknowledge my presence.

The emptiness grows, and I have been eaten out,

hollow.

With a final sharp breath and a deep moan,

I give way to my weak base.

The destroyers knew

when my family’s roots were

unearthed,

mine would be, too.

Songs:

1. “Set Bird Free” by Sia: I love this song so much! It is off of Sia’s newest album. When I started listening to it in December, I was hooked! I love how Sia writes meaningful lyrics, much like poems, and her tunes are different than many other songs out there. “Clipped wings, I was a broken thing. Had a voice, had a voice but I could not sing…I struggle to fly now.”

2. “Roots and Wings” by Miranda Lambert: We all could use a bit of country music once and a while, and this is one I recommend. The vocals are really fun to sing along to and there is an instrumental section that I just love! “Wild like the wind in the tall pines trees, I got roots and I got wings.”

3. “Na Na Na” by Pentatonix: I know this song isn’t too much about birds, but I had to include Pentatonix! They are an a capella group, and this is an original song. I totally recommend checking them out (they are my favorite music group)! This song is very happy and fun to sing along to. “Falling’s only natural, just spread your wings and fly.”

4. “Wings” by Little Mix: This is my go to song if I just want to get up and dance my heart out! It is so catchy and upbeat that you just want to move and sing along. “No matter what you say – it won’t hurt me. Don’t matter if I fall from the sky; these wings are made to fly.”

I hope you discovered a new poem or song that you find interest in this month! Now, go sing your little heart out or chirp to your friends about the new poems you know! See you next time on Caitlin’s Corner!