Welcome to the 49th edition of I and the Bird, the carnival for bloggers who love birds. I’m calling this edition — with a nod to my fellow Pennsylvanian Rob Fergus — the Wordchaser. I’m less of a birder than a bird appreciator (for street cred, I can only point to my vice-presidency in the local Audubon chapter), but I chase down poems the way a life-lister chases birds.
Past editions of I and the Bird have showcased the host’s own creativity, with sometimes extraordinary results. But this time I want to turn it around and focus on the linguistic creativity of the contributors themselves. Poems, like birds, are everywhere; it’s just a matter of training ourselves to recognize them — a metaphor here, an alliterative passage there, and something lovely dark and deep lurking just beyond. And with a little bit of editing, the English language naturally resolves into a rough iambic pentameter…
Each line in the “found poem” below is a link to the post I lifted it from. I’ve altered nothing but the punctuation, and I’ve included an audio version for those who may have trouble hearing the poetry at first. I’m hoping the excerpts will read like riddles, enticing you to click through and discover their original contexts.
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Lots of good things happen unbidden. Sure they do:
A Golden-winged singing in the far field;
A chance encounter with a small flock of Cockatoos,
Little cotton balls above their legs;
Fallouts of migrants at coastal “fire-escapes;”
Antshrikes, antwrens and antbirds churring and flitting.
A Bobolink flew up out of the field and circled me,
The super nova of the forest, the gaudy Prothonotary.
I knew instantly what it was! There was no mistaking
An immature Bald Eagle in January with a broken wing.
They make the most amazing murbling noises
(Audubon would have said something like that).
The afternoon lull had set in, but we pressed on.
We spotted the lapwings again, out in the glasswort–
How high above the water the white flashes!
Who knows how they knew they were there,
Bird with bird, birds with the very air.
Red Knot, that salmon sensation, doesn’t persist;
I can’t pry them from their hidden nest.
Tomorrow perhaps. Perhaps the day after,
I will spot snipe both close and in good light,
Hundreds of ruddy turnstones, a least sandpiper,
Dendroica cerulea by sound as well as sight.
In their minds, they’re following the food,
Catching arthropods as they attempt to flee
In dewy grass, or ground on the sole of my boot.
I wanted to see the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat;
How it arrived on the window sill I know not.
It was dusk by that time and no hope of a decent photo.
The bird stretches its wings and simply lets go.
Sources: Julie Zickefoose, Thomasburg Walks, Trevor’s Birding, Living the Scientific Life, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, Drawing the Motmot, The Birdchaser, Bell Tower Birding, Richard Guthrie, Bird Treatment and Learning Center, The Egret’s Nest, Birds Etcetera, The Hawk Owl’s Nest, Ben Cruachan Blog, The Nemesis Bird, The Flatbush Gardener, Fragments from Floyd, 10,000 Birds, Marcia Bonta, The House and other Arctic musings, lovely dark and deep, A DC Birding Blog, Cup O’ Books, Gavan Central, Tick Magnet, Antshrike’s Bird Blog, Bird Ecology Study Group, Wrenaissance Reflections, Dzonoqua’s Whistle.
The next edition of I and the Bird will appear in two weeks at A Blog Around the Clock. Send submissions to Bora: Coturnix AT gmail DOT com.
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[...] These disjointed ramblings stem from more than just the kink in my neck. The host of this fortnight’s I and the Bird happens to also be the co-founder of the Festival of the Trees, the blog carnival devoted to all things arboreal. When I think of Dave Bonta of Via Negativa fame, trees come to mind, as does an overarching theory of naturalism. Birders contend so often with issues of biology, taxonomy, and even botany that pursuit of this interest often devolves into a crash course in amateur ornithology. But the passion for watching birds or butterflies or trees comes from a deeper place than mere academic inquiry. To be a naturalist, one must possess the senses of a scientist and the soul of a poet. Dave is clearly gifted with both, as evidenced by his epic saga, I and the Bird #49 – the Wordchaser. [...]
Sweet…I love found poetry and this is a great example of it! This must have taken forever to put together. Bravo!
[...] An amazingly poetic I and the Bird, number 49 in the series, entitled The Wordchaser, is up at Via Negativa. It is one heck of an I and the Bird and I strongly urge you to go take a look! [...]
Thanks Dave, you’ve done us all proud.
Poetry in every blog….
Dave Bonta has such a wide ranging blog, Via Negativa. His interests run to practically all the world around him, the world he approaches in his own intelligent, literate form. I’m always proud when a post of mine pops up…
Damn. I keep forgetting to submit. I’d have loved to have been in such a lovely poetic carnival. What a great job.
A beautiful found poem- the last line pulled everything together and gave me goosebumps. What a wonderful, creative approach to the carnival. Bravo!
You take too little credit. This is indeed a fascinating bit of poetry. It seems an impossible task, but you brought it together beautifully!
Well done!!!!!! Thanks so much.
[...] cheeps from my peeps Via Negativa » Blog Archive » I and the Bird 49: the Wordchaser on Swallow TalesKGMom on I think I thunk a thoughtlizalee on Wordless Wednesdayvicki on Wordless WednesdayLynne from Hasty Brook on Wordless Wednesday [...]
Wow. As a birder and a poet, I can only say, “Wow!” That is wonderful and I am totally intrigued and will click through on all the links. Thank you for doing us proud!
Delightful! Thank you.
That’s lovely, Dave! Thanks.
Inspired job Dave, congratulations.
What a fun idea! Awesome way to tie it all together!! (thanks for doing it!)
Fantastically creative, dave! Yay. I love it, and only wish I wasn’t such a lazy bum and had thought to contribute something to this edition.
[...] I and the Bird #49 – the latest edition of the carnival. [...]
[...] . . . . . . . . I and the Bird #49 is hosted by “the Wordchaser” and our contribution is “How it arrived on the window sill I know not.” [...]
the birds and I… how many are there now? chirping gets more boisterous daily inside the walls of my kitchen. There’s a hole in the clapboard where the porch wires once ran to the porch. Tomorrow I’ll see who’s living in there. I enjoyed this found poem.
Truly outstanding – thanks for such a great carnival. I was intrigued to click back to the originating posts to find the context for the lines of the poem.
Bravo!
Listening to you read this was creepy. I could see your face on the monitor in front of me. And I don’t think the Saison Deluxe had anything to do with it.
A Birders Poem…
Poetry. It is everywhere! To find out for yourself visit I and the Bird 49: the Wordchaser at Via Negativa and check out the bird behind each phrase of the poem…….
Lovely. You have a poet’s voice. Blogged as I and the Bard.
WOW!
Birding is poetry.
Thanks!!!
One of my favorite editions ever! Very cool.
A big thanks to everyone who read/listened, commented, or linked. I had a lot of fun putting this together, and encourage anyone with a blog to consider volunteering to host I&tB or another blog carnival yourself. (The Festival of the Trees is still looking for hosts from August on!)
[...] Via Negativa » Blog Archive » I and the Bird 49: the Wordchaser ‘the 49th edition of I and the Bird, the carnival for bloggers who love birds… And with a little bit of editing, the English language naturally resolves into a rough iambic pentameter…’ (tags: blogs carnivals birds) [...]
[...] In any case, I’ve made good headway on the latest series of paintings and have finished up four, a personal best in efficiency. And it’s been a very literary week for me as well. The Wordchaser created a wondrous found poem of bird notations and imagery at I and the Bird #49; it’s an honor to have been able to contribute a line to this noble ode. Science has made its way back into this space: with Collecting Oklahoma opening June 16th at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, an absolutely fabulous plesiosaur website has posted an article on the Making of the Elasmosaurus, part 1. This site has great information and research, and was an important reference for me when I was working on the giant paleozoic reconstruction painting project, and Adam Smith draws a fine Plesiosaur himself. And, wow, there’s even a store- one-stop shopping for all your plesiosaur needs. Life gets better and better. Now if I can figure out my imac… [...]
[...] The latest edition of I and the Bird is presented by Via Negativa as a fine found poem: The afternoon lull had set in, but we pressed on. We spotted the lapwings again, out in the glasswort— How high above the water the white flashes! Who knows how they knew they were there, Bird with bird, birds with the very air. [...]
I love the picture of the gull on the statue!