MECHANICAL BIRDS TO JEWEL THEIR SKIES

Today's poem arose from a writing exercise.
I took a blank piece of paper and wrote whatever words came into my head until I had filled it. No stopping, no thinking about the contents and no criticism. I just wrote.
Then I read it and wondered if there was a poem lurking in there.
This came slowly out.

the silence of the great extinction

settled on the shoulders of the survivors

stalling all thoughts of celebration

as if for the first time

they clearly saw all that had been lost

as if for the first time

so set to work

shipping in from beyond the stars

mechanical birds to jewel their skies

and fill a niche long vacated

by sinew and bone

feather and wing

see how their propellers idle

as the thermal spirals then ever higher

to spectrograph heaven with their metal tongues

I got the idea of mechanical birds to jewel the skies and the propellers from the writing, the rest evolved over a couple of weeks and many revisions.

Here's The Mamas and Papas.

Until next time.