Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

poem- sovereign treochair September 23, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:16 pm
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Majesty
Such service you have given
Commonwealth family.

Those corgis
Standing as the hearse went by
Gave for love’s sake, happily.

Gratefully
Crowds gather to say farewell
Long service in sovereignty.
.
.
A treochair is an Irish poetry form. Triplet stanzas have an A, B, A rhyme scheme and 3, 7, 7 syllable count.

 

poem- endings June 19, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:34 pm
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Tonight,

we’ll laugh until tears streak our cheeks

and remember all those moments

that made this a special place.

But beneath the laughter

will be the melancholy knowing

that with these leavings

we are left to try to rebuild something new.

I suppose we’ll be okay,

but I can’t help but wish you’d stay.

.

.

.

(End of the school year.  Staff leaves.  New staff arrives.  Some years it’s just so fabulously synergistic that it is particularly depressing to see the end).

 

poem- ending May 18, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:22 pm
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The skies weep on the airport

bidding melancholy farewell

to the time of aggregation.

On my return drive, troubled skies glower,

containing their tears while

eagles, ospreys, and hawks wheel

on rising wind born of wistful  anamnesis.

At home a beam of sun light

glows at my door, grateful

illumination:

recollecting joy.

.

.

It is always bittersweet on the last day of a gathering, as participants return home.  Graduation celebration, weddings, funerals, conventions, conferences, camp.  The greater the anticipation of the event, the more melancholy the ending.  

I will treasure fond memories of Word on the Lake 2014.  43 hours of conference, anticipated for 572 days = 1.2 days of anticipation per hour of experience! 🙂

Sometimes, the ending remains a clear memory, while the middle disappears.  Do you have any poignant endings that you hold in your heart?

 

 

 

poem- aubade February 4, 2014

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:17 am
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Your limbs

spill from silken sheets

shimmering in the glimmer

of morning squeezing between

window slats,

striping you like a convict,

but I am your prisoner.

Your lips

curl as you murmur,

conversing with lovers

in your dreams,

Your hips

burrow deeply

on the rhythm of your sighs

and I long to lie beside you,

lingering in the light,

but as dawn drives day

so must I away.

.

.

An aubade is a French leaving poem.  It’s the opposite of a serenade, and is the song of a lover leaving his beloved in the morning.  I’d never heard of the form before, and on the same day, I discovered it by accident (when I looked up a French lingerie company by the name and the definition came up) I found an aubade in the WordPress poetry feed.  Quite a coincidence!  Here is my first one.  I should add, that I am unlikely to ever write one from experience, since generally I’m going to bed at dawn, while my husband is getting up! 😉  

 

words January 29, 2013

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:40 pm
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Splashing in the bathroom

awakens her

to a sorrowful knowing.

Her eyes are closed against it.

His baggage rustles.

“Come kiss me good-bye,” she says

blinking blurrily.

Compliant,

he leans and offers

a perfunctory pucker

upon her sour morning lips.

“I’ll call you tomorrow

to tell you whether I’m coming home,”

he says.

“Call me today

to tell me you’ve arrived.”

“I can do that,” he agrees

moving down the hallway.

Eyes clamped closed again,

she hears the firm crunch of

doors and humming rumble of the engine.

As the car leaves,

she leans into her pillow,

wondering at the words,

he didn’t say.

 

 
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