I awake at dawn to sit outside,
watch darkness turn to light,
listen to the fantasia
composed by friends of flight.
Gulls screech, black birds caw,
blend in loud cacophony.
Yellow kiskadees sing their name
kiss-kah-dee atop palmetto tree.
Whistle woo, ee-ooh ee-oohs,
stutter sounds that stop and start.
Nature’s composition,
her ode to sunrise joy.
Sparrows peep and chirp beside me,
ruffle flutter wings then flee
startled by my scratching pen
scoring sounds of brightness in the morn.
Sun warms as notes begin to simmer
overture slowly ends.
Curtain rises on blue skies,
a new Bermuda day.
Thrilled to be guest-hosting dVerse Poetics today! Loving all things fantastical, my poem today uses “fantasia” as it relates to a musical free flow composition. Video from our deck in Bermuda, listening to the dawn. You’ll hear the Kiskadee (yellow bird) quite plainly. And this is one of my many feathered friends who came often to sit with me. Also applying to NaPoWriMo Day 12.
lillian the home poet 
Beautiful words and birds!
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Thank you Tildy! So nice to see you this morning 🙂
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You too!I can’t wait to see some type of yellow bird this season.
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I would love to wake up to the sounds of the bird songs in Bermuda:
Nature’s composition,
her ode to sunrise joy.
Beautiful pictures and sounds too ~
Thanks for the lovely prompt 🙂
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So glad you like it. Oh I miss those early Bermuda morns. Too cold to sit out on our Boston deck — and it overlooks the city so occasionally a pigeon or two can be seen 😳. But we do also love the city life! Just blessed to experience both. Looking forward to hosting this afternoon and evening!
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A joyous piece, tantalizing for those of us who’ve never been to Bermuda. You really hooked me with the line /startled by scratching pen/–I actually still write all things out in long hand first, ala
Hemingway. Thanks for tending the Pub.
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I’m an early riser so always have my coffee much near by, with pen and journal in hand. A nice way to start the day 🙂
Always glad to share a bit of Bermuda!
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And I sit on my backsteps, coffee mug in hand listening to our southern birds. I love best the temple chime sounds of the cardinal singing, here! Over here over here! I tap things out in my mind and work them out there before committing to the computer. Nice to spend this delicious morning with you, hearing that happy kiskadee. When cold here, I wrap up in a quilt. How nice to have you here with us, sharing your morning music and joyous words. Hayesspencer is kanzensakura.
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Ah…..so glad you equated hayesspencer with kanzensakura. I didn’t have that 🙂
Thank you for your lovely words here. Somehow, when I meet so many wonderful people in this poetic cyberspace, I wish there was indeed a real bar where we could all gather! Wouldn’t that be fun?
Sing an ode to spring 🙂
lillian
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I love all the musical onomatopoeia – the birds in morning is so special and thrilling to awake to. Thank you for the wonderful prompt.
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So glad you like the prompt, Bjorn. And my Bermuda fantasia too 🙂 Really enjoying tending the bar — bit slow now….wonder if it will pick up?
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I have noticed its a bit slow when there are so many prompts to chose from …
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Your poem paints such pretty images inside my head 😀
Beautifully penned.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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Thank you! Smiling I am.
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What a lovely companion to sit with you in the morning, Lillian. Such a sweet, gentle way to start the day. I never get up before dawn, or at dawn but there is much beauty and peace in those minutes before the day gets started. Thanks for being our guest host today!
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Thank you — am enjoying myself immensely! 🙂
And as to the dawn….since I’ve retired, I’ve found myself savoring those early hours with a cup of coffee, pen and journal in hand. Bermuda’s deck was icing on the cake. Once the weather is warm in Boston, we also have a deck — buildings view/city scape — but still the outdoor air and coming morning light is special wherever we are.
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The dawn seems even more special when you’re in an environment that you’re not usually in…like a vacation. I know you enjoyed your time in Bermuda very much and it was nice to get little snippets from you about your stay there.
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Ah, we both had birdsong. I am being entertained by the glorious song of finches and mockingbirds these days and the hummers dancing. This is so lovely–nature so healing, as is music.
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Soothing to the soul. I sure had fun that one morning, trying to write down the sounds I heard. There are no words….so you have to listen closely and figure out what words or letters can make the sound you are hearing. Chirp, cheep, peep, hoot…………..not nearly enough.
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I just realized–the birdsong was in the Monday Haibun. :0)
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Your fantasy seems to me to be a perfect reality, beautifully penned Lillian….
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Ah yes…..it was a reality those many morns I sat outside on our deck in Bermuda at dawn. As the sun rose, the birds began to sing — and create a fantasia — which is a free form music composition 🙂 ‘Twas beautiful!
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Love love love. I long to sit at the center of this symphony.
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I’ll take you along next year! Jan 28 to Feb 28, 2017. Come join us! 🙂 So glad you liked this one…did you listen to the video? The Kiskadee is my favorite, although the Bermudians hate this bird as it eats evertything — as it seeds, crops etc. It has a strong voice at the beginning of the video: kis-kah-dee — three sounds in one call.
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I really like the tongue-twister feel throughout. Lots of fun-to-say lines and phrases.
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Thanks. I tried to make the fantasia (composition) come alive….but very hard to write words that sound like the birds. Chirp, peep, hoot….there’s so much more….so many sounds it’s really hard to describe. Did you listen to the video? You can really hear the kiskadee (kiss-ka-dee) near the beginning. Glad you read it aloud 🙂
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a perfect morning scene. I might have to sit outside this weekend 😉
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I do miss it! 🙂 Boston still has skeleton trees 😦
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same here in western PA ;-(
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Birdsong = joy. I love your poem with songs strange and familiar. Double glazing has a lot to answer for in that it deprives us of that morning extravaganza.
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Oh my. Reading your reply here over my morning cup. “Double glazing” — now those are words ripe for a poem to surround them. And yep — another modern invention that seals us in. My mind leaps from this….I heard an interview yesterday on NPR with the children’s author Beverly Cleary – in her 80s now. And she talks about her childhood — and experiencing the joys of “freedom” in a childlike way….going outside to play hopscotch on the sidewalk, walking to school. Me thinks we “double glaze” our children now and live in response to fear. So — here’s to more birdsong in our lives! 🙂 Glad you liked this one.
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Go for it, Lillian – I like quirky themes for poems.
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Your poem is so peaceful and melodious, a beautiful backing tack to the scene outside my window this morning, with different birds on a different part of the planet!
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There’s just something so calming about watching nature’s songsters, right? Glad you liked this one! 🙂
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A gorgeous place with lovely soundtrack…thanks for sharing paradise 🙂
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Yes……..I’m enjoying my second cup in my study (back in Boston) and although there’s sunshine outside my windown, there’s also the red brick wall of a tall building with lots of windows — and no birds. So — I was just about to press play on this video myself. So glad I have it — 🙂
Glad you enjoyed!
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Absolute paradise!! I love this:
“listen to the fantasia
composed by friends of flight.”
some of my favorite kind of magic. 🙂
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Thank you, Hannah. You’ve mentioned one of my favorite lines. 😊
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Completely splendid, Lillian!
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Oh happy I am to read your reply here. Many thanks!
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Thank you for letting me soak in the sun next to you and drift into the fantasia surrounding you.
Never been there, but now I have.
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Always happy to take folks along on my journies! 🙂 It is a magical place.
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It’s early morning here, and I loved the swell of your sounds and bird snips so much more than the hum of my refrigerator. Can I come over in spirit please?
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Any time, Ava. But I’m back in Boston now — still have skeleton trees and our deck furniture is still piled up and glass door closed. Burrrrr……I do miss this lovely time in the mornings there. That’s why I did the video. I do love city life — and we are right in the middle of the city. But that means we have a buildings view from our deck — so some mornings I sip my coffee and watch this video a few times before starting my day. 🙂
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Love the singing of the birds here!
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Here in cold Boston, I watch this video in the early morning and imagine myself back in Bermuda! Glad you liked this one.
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‘Sun warms, as notes begin to simmer.’ Oh I do love those words….
Lovely Lillian. Thank you.
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We left Bermuda too early — it was in the 30s in Boston today! burr
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