Birds Are So Smart

Birds Are So Smart with Dixie Keyes

Welcome to Day 9 of Verselove. We are so happy you are here, however you choose to be present. If you know what to do, carry on; if you are not sure, begin by reading the inspiration and mentor poem, then scroll to the comment section to post your poem. Please respond to at least three other poets in celebration of words, phrases, ideas, and craft that speak to you. All educators – authors, librarians, teachers, teacher educators, coaches, consultants, preservice, retired–are welcome. It’s free. No commitment is needed. Please invite a teacher-friend to join you one or more days because poetry heals. Click here for more information on the Verselove. Click here for the PD tracker if you’d like PD credits.

Dixie Keyes lives near the base of the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, in Jonesboro, where she teaches at Arkansas State University. She collaborates as a teacher educator with both preservice teachers and experienced teachers attaining advanced degrees in reading. Dixie is Director of the Arkansas Delta Writing Project at A-State, a National Writing Project site. She is a long-time member of NCTE and ALAN and a past-president of the Arkansas state NCTE affiliate. She facilitates yoga and writing workshops in her local community.

Inspiration

The trill of a bird in the morning awakens us to the sun, to hope, and to a unique intelligence. Whether you see or hear the birds, they never fail to gather our attention, especially this time of year. I was recently watching the last episode of a pioneer saga series, where the main character was taking her last breath. A mourning dove came to land beside her as she recalled how smart she thought birds were because they harvest worms so easily after a rain when the ground is softened. That’s when the birds come down from trees and bushes to feast. “Birds are so smart,” she whispered….and those were her last words.

Process

A great artist and songwriter,  Leonard Cohen, wrote of his awareness of this unique intelligence of birds in his song “Anthem:” “The birds they sang/At the break of day/Start again/I heard them say/Don’t dwell on what has passed away/Or what is yet to be/”

Take a moment to listen or watch for the birds, or a bird. Perhaps it alights on your deck in the morning and you see it from your kitchen window. Maybe a round of robins scratch for worms in your front yard. Look up and notice how a gaggle of geese take turns leading their arrow-shaped flying party. Notice how smart they are and what we can learn from them, then write the messages you receive from the intelligence of birds.

 Here are two short poems about birds that I’ve written in the past.

Two Examples from Dixie

Choral

To carry within us the morning choral—
the chants of the birds, their call and response,
their trills and outreach from neighborhood to neighborhood,
reverberating songs full of life and hope
on the edge of understanding.

To carry within us these staves with messages
of tenor throats and soprano signatures,

To hear not only the song,
but the loss
from the feathered harbingers
of what is to come.

–Dixie K. Keyes

Upon My Mother’s Dying

What if the birds
flying above the rice fields on dark November days
are bits of souls

in transition

from their now to their forever?

–Dixie K. Keyes

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming.

Respond to 3

Respond to 3 teachers today in the spirit of reciprocity. Writing educator Peter Elbow said, “To improve your writing you don’t need advice about what changes to make; you don’t need theories of what is good and bad writing. You need movies of people’s minds while they read your words” (Writing Without Teachers, 1973, p. 77). Please offer a mirror to our writers by sharing what you noticed, what moved you, and what you learned. Responding to one another is a way of saying “I see you” and “thank you for writing” and “I carry your words.” Here are a few sentence stems that may be helpful for you and your students.