Words As Eggs, Presumed To Have Fledged, An Extreme Case Of Hatching Asynchrony In A Pair Of Tree Swallows - A Murmuration Upon A Found Poem Poem by Warren Falcon

[This effort is a third hatching of 2 previous efforts (one still active on this site]

NOTE: This found poem derives from a scientific article found in a journal dedicated to the study of birds, all observations of and conclusions derived so far as birds go, being continually mysterious even though the understanding of flight and song is now clear, even so there is something about birds, and swallows in particular, which evoke stunned mystery and silence until humans are moved to chirp and coo in soft wonder. Note too that thunder, similar though differently to birds, also evokes wonder and certain human sounds. A mystery indeed.

for Elaine,
our many murmurations gazed on
the way to Christmas Lourdes 2016

'Humanity, is on the way, always moving towards something. At least, we should be. The classic theological concept for this is 'Homo Viator', or Man on the Way [Man the Flier]. For life is a journey, an adventure that we are always a part of. We do not choose to be on the way, it is our existential situation. We are not at home, we are are on the way home....We long to be at home, in a place of comfort, yet we are not.' - Dan Jesse

'.... from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation.... A way a lone a lost a last a loved a long the ' - James Joyce

Asynchrony - a synchrony = absence or lack of concurrence in time

murmur - (A) to make the sound 'mu mu' (old Greek)
or 'mumu', to murmur with closed lips, to mutter,
moan... (B) to drink with closed lips, to suck in...
-Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon,1897 ed.

'When the attentions change / the jungle
leaps in even the stones are split
they rive...' - Charles Olson, from The Kingfishers

'Hatch as hatch can.' - James Joyce

Thusly
murmuration-moan
wind-mutter
winding-matter

...

NOTE: ASYNCHRONY OF SWALLOWS

which is a-synchrony, just to remind =

absence or lack of concurrence in time


In other words, no rhyme scheme

or known reason though presumptions

occur in observation of patterns that

such are the habits of nature to assist

drawing conclusions which are surmises

which are in the end and beginning

always 'unhatched eggs' or, better,

words as eggs

**

(all praise) and what marvelous

vapor is restive life (as are days)

in thousand undulate congregations

no need for falconer after all

when Chaos a'daze of a Sunday

evening seems to know something


so falls into


purple fields


(O Low, remember)


edged by sheer snow peaks where

sheep surefeet know no fear of

heights and there do dung and

play fearless or at least pretending

not to fall in their waking dream

which is the thing -

concavity curves

in a dead hatchling's

sparkless eye reflecting

dead eggs' perfect

forms soft brooded

upon as one might

brood one in hand

pondering which is

the better off the

flown lone one or

the ongoing nest

knot which can also

denote an egg -

hatched or not or

clotted everyly or

otherwise - is all

surmise who knows

what is the thing

joy's winged malingerers

in sudden annunciate

in sudden annunciate

thunder


Flashy entrance

Swallows do so

flash as flash

can and (it,

Awe) may last

a long (a'wiley)

if

if

memory

serves

is glad

one's self

to have

hatched

and fledged

see what

glory can

be made

and had

at edges

(earth's

clearly domed


the shape of

eyes makes

it so)


and one knows or someday

will in lighter or heavier bones

scry the effort was/is made

at all as self portraits which

may or may not be the actual

who whom we perceive as

selves to be we (one

feather

at a time


necessary


dreaming

of

air) being adhered to dirt

so verily molded by known

and unknown forces within

which we make

or so we think

choose

but nevermind but

no

let us

return to mumur to suck in

sounds through and behind

lips and be naturally moved

bothered to somehow care

which with heart we indeed

do hard swallow at the

superfluity

of swallows



One bird, elder,

said to me once


my being newly

fledged and flung


me at her knobby wither-knees

admiring her mustache, her tooth

(beak?) told me to observe and

note one or three (never two)

do-re-mi's or more

(to better feathered choirs)

so try at least to sing it - IT

even if choking on what cannot

as yet be chewed gorged

IT being our

being-in

being-for

being-with

without craw

or claw

but IT, bliss,

eventually

might if not understood

or withstood or notwithstanding

words thoughts ideas

molt

discard images

thrown out

blown stray

glyphs

spare aspirations

parenthetical but

remain urgent musts

so are)

in other

words

and perhaps

all birds all kinds

do perhaps arrive land perch alight

a lift-off life time of chew and choke

then with some digestive orientation

from and of such sing of 'ossible

bone-tones some parsings or

other some conjugant choralling

which may/might ascribe flight

daylight the usual things so

granted-for-taking so often

misspoken or under sung, we

being always flung being

viators

visitors

trying yet to cling to what

cannot be undone but

forever always clotted until

we indeed fly no more in

mind or britches, feet shod

or not, inevitably come

(completed?)

to full glottal stop

presumably fledged

utterly, no longer

rumors on the wind

but human still yet

'a way a lone a lost a last a loved a long the '

2

[Here is the essay referred to in the opening preface to the poem, its essence edited and basics put into poetic lines as a 'found poem']

[Tree Swallows

typically lay 5-6

eggs, with one laid

about every 24 hours.


Incubation

typically lasts

14 days

(range: 11-20 days) ,

after which time

the eggs all hatch

within a 24-72-hour

period.]



Herein is reported

a case of extreme

hatching asynchrony

by a pair of tree

Swallows:


One hundred and

twenty-five nest

boxes have been

placed around the

county in groups

ranging from 10

to 25 boxes.


The design and

dimensions of the

boxes follow those

of standard bluebird

boxes and are mounted

upon metal poles,

fences, or poles

of utility.


All boxes are within

certain reach of water,

and are in or adjacent

to open fields.


Most boxes are also in

close proximity to human

activity


(sidewalks, parking

lots, trails, etc.) .



On a certain May day,

a female laid the first egg

of her clutch, and the

6-egg clutch was

completed 5 days later.


12 days after the first

egg hatched. The nest

was checked every two

days, and no additional

eggs hatched until May's

end at which time was

observed a newly hatched

chick, plus 4 eggs unhatched.


During the next nest check

on second June, the newly

hatched chick was dead.

None of the other eggs

had hatched. The remaining

chick was present on all

subsequent checks until

8 days later when it was

no longer in the nest.


As there was no evidence

of predation, the chick is

presumed to have fledged.



In seven years of study of

this population, Swallows,

just to be clear, this is the

most extreme case of hatching

asynchrony observed;


all other broods hatched

within 48 hours.


END