Monday, June 9, 2014

Drifting Off - Seamus Heaney

Birds Lifting (M.A. Reilly, 2011)

Drifting Off

 - Seamus Heaney


The guttersnipe and the albatross
gliding for days without a single wingbeat
were equally beyond me.

I yearned for the gannet's strike,
the unbegrudging concentration
of the heron.

In the camaraderie of rookeries,
in the spiteful vigilance of colonies
I was at home.

I learned to distrust
the allure of the cuckoo
and the gossip of starlings,

kept faith with doughty bullfinches,
leveled my wit too often
to the small-minded wren

and too often caved in
to the pathos of waterhens
and panicky corncrakes.

I gave much credence to stragglers,
overrated the composure of blackbirds
and the folklore of magpies.

But when goldfinch or kingfisher rent
the veil of the usual,
pinions whispered and braced

as I stooped, unwieldy
and brimming,
my spurs at the ready.

Author Notes

from Sweeney Redivivus
from "Station Island" (1984

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.