Darkness dawns,
star-dots peek through sky’s scrim.
Moonless night serene,
lulled to sleep by wave’s quiet lapping.
Raucous cormorants
rudely accompany sun’s rising.
Wings slapping, loudly thrumping
against ocean’s waves.
Herd-like,
glistening wet black bodies lift,
hover low then soar.
Migration has begun.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today De is hosting Quadrille Monday, asking us to include the word “lift” in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title.
Video filmed several years ago from the deck of our annual rental in Provincetown, at the very tip of Cape Cod. Amazing to see….many more and much louder ruckus than you hear and see with the video!
lillian the home poet 
Those rude cormorants! Love your quadrille, Lill!
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Thanks, Melissa! It was an incedibly loud noise that woke me up! I went to look then had to run back and get my phone, get it to the camera to video and by the time I did this piece of video, it was the tail end of it all. The noise of flapping wings…their squawking…incredible!
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This is just beautiful, Lill. I know they’re noisy, but MAN to I love me some shorebirds.
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Glad you enjoyed. Oh yes….life on the shore….so many sights and sounds bring it to life. Gulls patiently dropping clam shells onto the rocks, over and over, until they break and provide their sustenance. The individual cormorant ducking under the water and appearing again so very far away….they must be able to hold their breath for a LONG time. Mating season of the hermit crabs…now that was interesting. Seeing a red fox slink by our deck as dawn was beginning to take light. So I do understand your love of shorebirds~
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Cormorants can be quite noisy (and they also poop a lot)
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Hah! Well thank goodness these hundreds and hundreds of cormorants were flying over the water!!!
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I love the way you describe the scene, Lill, with “star-dots” peeking through “sky’s scrim” and the thought of being “lulled to sleep by wave’s quiet lapping”. The raucous cormorants come as a wonderful surprise, especially the contrast of the “wings slapping, loudly thrumping against ocean’s waves”. The video is wonderful.
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I was so glad I could catch the video! Glad you enjoyed the poem. Happy New Year!
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Happy New Year, Lill!
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This is gorgeously rendered, Lillian 😍 I especially love the image; “Moonless night serene, lulled to sleep by wave’s quiet lapping.” ❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa. Glad you enjoyed!
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You’re most welcome! 😘
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Nice contrasts in here, Lillian. Cool video also.
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It really was amazing to see!
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Beautifully done, like an extended haiku or palidone…that first stanza was particularly nice, reminding me a touch of Rhimbaud.
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Thank you….so glad you enjoyed.
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Noisy little things, aren’t they?
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Oh yes!
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The migration began with with wings, water and sound. Nice capture with the video.
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It really was amazing to see!
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Love the sounds and movements to theme of migration. That second part is a sharp contrast to the serenity of the first stanza. Thanks for the video as well.
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Thank you, Grace. Glad you enjoyed!
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A wonderful post, Lillian. I love the cormorants migrating!
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Glad you enjoyed!
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You are welcome.
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What a lovely scene you painted, Lill! Great video too.
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It really was amazing to see!
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Love THE FALL SCENE, especially the cormorants and their ascent to migrate for warmer climates! Wow moment …Sent from my iPhone
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So fun to see a comment from you here! 🙂 And yes, it really was amazing to be awakened by the NOISE and then to see it!!!
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Lillian, i simply adore your second line with star-dots peeking thru sky scrim! And what a scene of those cormorants lifting off in your video 🙂
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I’ve always liked the word “scrim”…..and yes! It was amazing to see!
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Scrim also suggests scrimshaw, these black oily birds that etch the water and the sky with their spread wings and reaching necks. There’s nothing serene about a cormorant, which you show so adeptly with this poem.
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Even though I grew up in CT I only went out to the cape once.
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Great poem about a real life marvel of nature, Lillian!
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I love the sounds and imagery in this, Lillian!
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