The Black Bird

by Rose Mary Boehm 


Holland. Fifty-five years ago.
The back garden’s lawn sloping gently
towards the dark water of the canal.
There is a willow, its soft, green arms
reaching all the way down to the grass.
And there are tulips.
Almost black tulips,
their slender stems choreographed in a silent dance.
And there is a six-months old little boy in his buggy.

Twitt, twitt, chirrp, twitt, caw, flutters and wooshes,
some sharp beaks are pecking at an intruder.
Birds flitting by or leisurely thumping the lawn
for worms, a duck doing its splashy upside-down bit
into the murk of the canal water
only to lift up its beak dripping with black muck.
More ducks paddle towards a goal
only they know, leaving in their wake watery cuts
that silver the quiet canal.
The occasional canoe, the paddles almost soundless.
I look out of the kitchen window.
My little boy has been too quiet
for far too long.
I stare.

His mouth pursed in concentration,
in his pudgy little fingers the shortbread given to him
by my friend as a peace offering.
One by one he feeds crumbs to a black bird of some size
that’s sits on the edge of the buggy’s tray, its head moving
nervously from side to side, or perhaps it’s just to see
his benefactor better. Both are intense, sometimes talking,
in holy communion.


* * * * *

Rose Mary Boehm is a German-born British national living and writing in Lima, Peru, and author of two novels as well as eight poetry collections. Her poetry has been published widely in mostly US poetry reviews (online and print). She was three times nominated for a Pushcart and once for Best of Net. Do Oceans Have Underwater Borders? (Kelsay Books, July 2022), Whistling in the Dark (Cyberwit, July 2022), and Saudade (December 2022) are available on Amazon. Also available on Amazon is a new collection, Life Stuff, published by Kelsay Books November 2023. https://www.rose-mary-boehm-poet.com/