The Starling and the Willow:

A Love Story

Grandfather North began his hyperborean reign; from his lips algid slivers and shards descended; so began the season of Cimmerian shade.

The willow stood naked, elegant, and graceful
Lithe limbs dancing to a dirge of the iced, the elegiacal

She whispered to the shivering starling

Come, little bird, take harbourage
Among my impoverished laments
I offer shelter, all I have to give
Come; endure this dark together

The starling drew near
Flew among her wind-blown tears
His wings grew strong and supple
But within the ephemeral, the wispy
There was no terra on which to settle

The starling said a still, sturdier roost, I must find

He flew to a nearby silent and stoic maple
Upon its thick branches, most dependable
He plumped out his iridescent plumes
Thought ne’er of the laments of the willow

And here our tale of amour becomes one of sorrow
Love stands powerless as nature levels her fatal blow

A starling can fly but must eventually come to nest
A willow remains moving while always at rest
A starling is a starling, a willow a willow
Neither can change, for love or for woe

So the starling keeps; so the willow weeps

If only our intrepid, but fickle starling could come to love the unexpected and shifting breezes of the seasons; then maybe he and the elegant, but changeable willow would thrill to a light grip and gentle sway; they could glide on the gales, together; they'd find bliss in the feel of the starling's fluttering feathers against the willow's wispy and trailing limbs. Silken friction and airy syncopation. Perhaps if they accepted things as they came, almost always on the wind, they'd discover it isn't just mother nature that is seasonable, but human nature too ... oops ... I mean bird and tree nature. If they honed patience along with their desires and demands upon others, they could withstand the beautiful, but frigid hoary frost and find warmth in each other; the starling would discover that if he looked deeper into the willow, her strength is found closer to her heart. Then our forlon pair would come to enjoy another blossoming spring together, evolve a sublime symbioses capable of outlasting not just the few months of winter, but ages of growth and evolution.

When Will We Grow Together

it started with a seed
discarded and forgotten
in the dark and moist soil

sprouted sapling

roots
deep within the earth
searching for water
absorbing the metallic
and periodical

limbs
reaching for the clouds
inhabiting the sky
without feathers

leaves
symbiotic with the atmosphere
breathing and transforming
the hothouse to a haven

the foundation of an ecosystem
biodiversity and placid contemplation
you and me
all that has been created
but I wonder
when will we grow together

Bird or tree, humans, or even artificial intelligence, it appears we must all grow, evolve, if we are to persist. If we are to soar and transcend the earthen, maintain the earthen, then we must also learn to fly, to reach for the clouds and even into the stars; but if we are not to burn out and end as ash, we must also be rooted and nurtured. Nothing wrong with a night spent in and streaming the imagination of others, curled up and feeling warm.

But you were given metaphorical quills and pinions, roots and strong limbs, to remain where you are; you were meant to reach to the heavens, if only with your thoughts and imagination. Be that mercurial willow, but count on your roots to keep you balanced and capable of growth. Be that golden-throated and fluttering iridescent starling, claim your clouds, but nest among the twigs and limbs of your favorite tree. Go out on a limb if you must, but choose a strong one for purchase. Create. You were born to it.

Starling

singing starlings
iridescent divas
bejewelled, feathered
chirping constellations

shooting, falling
setting, nestling
rising again
with the newborn
crepuscular coma

whistled aria
performing
pinioned mimic

chords resonate
songs shimmer
in the emerging
mind/space

a diamond cymbal
prismatic and aloft
syncopating with
the dawn's chorus

That's it for this blog, Hivelanders. I hope you enjoyed this imaginary soar through nature and let's hope it worked some sympathetic magic and we will soon be delivered an early spring.

Words and Images are my own. The Starling and the Willow is published in Strays. When Will We Grow Together is published Monsters, Avatars, and Angels. The Starling is published Domesticate the Heavens. All titles are available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.