Poetry book Final

The Language of Birds Poems by Judith Wilde





Judith’s poem is so calm, elegant and beautiful. However her poem not only brought out the beauty of nature, but also engaged me into her world of colors, of animals and of nature. There is so much else within those simple, gentle and minimal wording that leads us into imagination. When I listen to her reading, the classroom is no longer there. I was surrounded by her soft voice and the vivid imagery that she have created. She has brought me into the nature. — Daphne Chiang

The Language of Birds Poems by Judith Wilde



Koi 8 Geese 12 Frog 16



Koi

Their electric orange bodies curve, bend and bow fluid in the fresh water of the pond Several are blue with dark persimmon markings 10 Languange of Bird

Their mouths form perfect circles as they swim toward the surface of the pond, toward the sound of my voice opening and closing their mouths expecting treats Koi 11

At times my fingers touch their sleek watery bodies and the smallest ones swim between my toes as I sit on the dock dangling my feet into the cool green water 12 Languange of Bird

They have grown unafraid unaware Koi 13

that all creatures are not friends bearing gifts. There are predators of koi. Osprey, with their talons extended sweep down from the sky sighting between their legs. 14 Languange of Bird

I am looking forward to their winter hibernation, to the Koi sinking to the pond’s bottom to the depths that stay liquid until spring. Koi 15



Frog

My heart is a tightrope walker taking uneven and arrhythmic steps across an abyss 18 Languange of Bird

Until the evening song of frogs performing vespers soothes me and I listen quietly to their concert. Frogs are unnecessarily skittish behaving like mishandled puppies. They jump away at my nearing footfall. Frog 19

20 Languange of Bird

I am happy to coexist glad to be their wingman warding off predators who wish only to gorge on them. I do not think their legs a delicacy nor am I a hunter Frog 21

I throw pebbles at the herons who can swallow a frog whole but refrain from attacking the snowy white ibis who is as beautifully awkward as I am on land. My white shirt and trousers billowing in the wind like clean laundry. 22 Languange of Bird

I’ve considered naming the frogs; those half-green, half-mud colored with bulging binking eyes, and those gray-green land frogs smaller than a half-dollar, that happily sit in the palm of my hand, or the iridescent-green tree frogs with their large toes that grip the trees Frog 23

Only, they are too numerous, too rapidy reproducing. Inhabiting the earth for over two hundred million years where I am barely a trespasser imitating their lwo frequency calls to find a mate orchestrating my own concert int his valley where nature commands and I transform a life governed by myth 24 Languange of Bird

to ensure against plagues and a rain of frogs. Frog 25



Geese

I am indoors watching as the geese land on the lake splashing, boisterous and disorderly 28 Languange of Bird

these water fowl are distant relatices of swans, though one cannot tell by their behavior they are raucous feathers flying bodies bumping Greese 29

disrupting the silence and tranquility of the lake. It is the first night where the temperature will fall below freezing and in the morning the geese will still be here gliding through the water 30 Languange of Bird

the iridescent green of their long necks glistening inhe sun. On land, the male stands taller than my knees Greese 31

he will run from me, but will not fly away, or he will run at me to distract me from his nest where his mate is busy hatching eggs. 32 Languange of Bird

Soon they will head south in search of warmer climes and I will watch the sky searching for the unexplainable beauty of their noisy flight. Greese 33