The Jay Poem by Simon Armitage
The Jay
I was pegging out your lime-green dress;
you were hoping the last of the sun
might sip the last few beads of drip-dry water
from its lime-green hem.
I had a blister-stigmata the size of an eye
in the palm of my hand
from twisting the point of a screw
into the meat of the house. Those days. Those times.
The bird was crossing the gravel path
in the style of a rowing boat crossing dry land.
Struck with terror when I held it tight
in the gardening-gloves of humankind, we saw for ourselves
the mouse-fur face and black moustache,
the squab of breastmeat under its throat,
the buff-brown coat and blue lapels,
the painted inside of its mouth,
the raw, umbilical flute of its tongue
sucking hard at the sky for the taste of air.
Setting it free, it managed no more than a butterfly stroke
to the shade of the unnamed tree, where we let it be.
They say now that the basis of life
in the form of essential carbon deposits
could have fallen to earth as a meteorite, or comet,
and that lightning strikes from banks of static
delivered the spark that set life spinning. It's a beginning.
But the three-letter bird was death, death thrown in from above,
death as a crash-brained, bone-smashed, cross-feathered bullet,
so we could neither kill it nor love it.
Perfectly worded, powerful poem, captured well and a very sad ending of the three-letter bird. Thank you for sharing. Most deserving poem as the Modern Poem Of The Day. Hooray! I always enjoy poems of poet Simon Sir.CONGRATULATIONS being chosen by Poem Hunter and Team as TMPOTD.5 Stars Full Vote!
With all the many comparisons, this poem has become a thought-provoking one! Absolutely marvelous!
'The bird was crossing the gravel path in the style of a rowing boat crossing dry land' - loved the comparison.
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They say now that the basis of life in the form of essential carbon deposits could have fallen to earth as a meteorite, or comet, and that lightning strikes from banks of static delivered the spark that set life spinning. It's a beginning.....so the destination of world of life at stake; this poem as various aspects about the future life of the world.
Very interesting with rich, well-thought imagery. I liked this poem very much. Thanks for sharing it. Keep writing! I wondered, was this a personal experience?
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/25/2024 4:46:19 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Very thought provoking, no certain I’m on the same page as poet, there’s an urgency in the final, yet for me to fathom