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Purple Martin Poems:Hope is the thing with feathers

2/16/2017

13 Comments

 
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Happy Poetry Friday! This week I am full of hope as I wait for my bird friends, the Purple Martins, to return to the ridge for the nesting season. I do hope that you enjoy your visit and that you will mosey over to Check it Out where Jone is hosting today's round-up. 

Every year in late February, I sit on my front porch with my eyes to the sky. I listen, and I wait for the Purple Martins to return to their summer home here on the ridge. These magnificent birds return to North America each year from their winter homes in South America. They are brilliant acrobats in flight who often depend on humans to provide housing throughout the nesting season.

As a bird enthusiast, I have always had a fascination with these enchanting birds. My grandfather always put up houses for them, and after he passed away, I decided to become a Martin landlord myself. Something about their song and general presence gives me hope. The kind of hope that returns again and again without fail. The kind of hope that endures.

I think that this poem by Emily Dickinson speaks of such hope. I just love the way this poem immediately pulls me in because of its reference to a bird, which is a recurring magnet topic for me as writer, and then within those first few lines, totally flips the way I typically think about writing about the birds I love. There is much that we can learn as writers when we flip our magnet topics over and write from the other side.     

Hope is the thing with feathers
by Emily Dickinson

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 from me.

Here are a few poems that I have written about the Purple Martins. I will continue to write about them in hopes of their swift return. 


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Invitation to Write:

Writers write a lot about the magnet topics they feel drawn to. Once these topics find their way into a writer's heart, they tend to stick around in the writer's thoughts for safe keeping. Then, just when a writer needs them the most, they flip themselves over to reveal another side or another way of thinking about the topic. Take a moment to think about a magnet topic that sticks with you always. What might be on the other side of this magnet? Now flip your magnet topic over. What do you see? Are there other sides of this topic to explore?
13 Comments
Brenda Harsham link
2/17/2017 05:21:09 am

I wrote a whole book about barn swallows and other birds. I like your swallow poems.

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Carol Varsalona link
2/17/2017 08:09:12 am

I loved hearing about your backstory love affair with the Purple Martins and then followed by your magnet topic writing.

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Doraine Bennett link
2/17/2017 08:21:32 am

I'm a bird lover, too. I remember purple martins at my grandmother's house. My favorite backyard birds are the little house finches that are flocking my feeder right now, fighting with the larger cardinals for their share of the seeds. I enjoyed your poems.

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Bridget Magee link
2/17/2017 10:23:43 am

I've never been formally introduced to the Purple Martin, but after reading your poem I very much want to. Thanks for sharing a bit of Emily, too. =)

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Leigh Anne Eck link
2/17/2017 04:03:46 pm

I am still looking for that "magnet topic" but I love reading about yours. I can't say that I have ever seen a purple martins, but I feel as if I know a lot about them by reading your words. Happy weekend!

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Michelle Kogan link
2/17/2017 10:42:58 pm

Lovely blog review Kiesha! I love your purple martin letter/love poem, thank you for it! I took a walk later in the afternoon today, and found a tree full of mourning doves. Before this I heard a number of crows and a great assortment of other songs, which will probably make there way into a poem. Looking forward to more songs to come.

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Mary Lee Hahn link
2/18/2017 05:45:26 am

The landscape of eastern Colorado is a magnet topic for me. Growing up on the flat, arid high plains ingrained that landscape into my soul.

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jama link
2/18/2017 08:06:20 am

I enjoy birdwatching too, and wish we had martins in our neck of the woods. Perhaps I need to put up my own bird hotel to lure them? :) Enjoyed your poems, thank you!

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Robyn Hood Black link
2/18/2017 02:35:17 pm

Thanks so much for sharing, Kiesha! I love the passion for these purple martins that you've beautifully expressed. I'm a fellow bird-lover as well. This afternoon I was regretting, on my walk with my dog, that I'm not participating in Cornell's Great Backyard Bird Count this year (it's this weekend - maybe you are?), but some years I have to skip.
I'm looking forward to the birding "ginko" (haiku walk) we'll have at the April meeting/conference I'm planning for The Haiku Society of America on the Georgia coast. Birds and poems are perfect mates!

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Alice Nine link
2/19/2017 04:41:38 pm

Delightful post and poetry. I love watching swallows at dusk, so graceful— swooping, with quick turns and banks as they take their supper on the wing. Their flying is so intentional when they are feeding. Here’s a sad article from 2013. Perhaps the reason I’ve not seen as many the last couple summers. http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/10/swallows_killed_in_thousands_b.html

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Jone MacCulloch link
2/21/2017 09:32:25 pm

I am a birdlover as well. Love the Dickenson poem and your little odes to the Martins. Keep us updated on their arrival.

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Linda Baie link
2/24/2017 10:19:22 am

My father kept a huge martin house & would call me when they returned. He got so excited, just like the excitement of your post, Kiesha. I love birds, too, and this time your own bird poems.

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LifePoemsProject link
4/14/2018 06:50:38 pm

Your poem affected life?! Yes, you can share your lovely poem and its great "after story" with the world... Submit now on LifePoemsProject.com

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    Welcome! I'm Kiesha Shepard, and I have a love for writing and the teaching of writing. Whispers From the Ridge is a place where I can share my words and ideas for teaching writing. It's also a place for you to find inspiration for writing the words inside of you. I invite you into my world of writing as I capture the whispers from the ridge.

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