Robert Francis
Four Tao philosophers as cedar waxwings
chat on a February berrybush
in sun, and I am one.
Such merriment and such sobriety––
the small wild fruit on the tall stalk––
was this not always my true style?
Above an elegance of snow, beneath
a silk-blue sky a brotherhood of four
birds. Can you mistake us?
To sun, to feast, and to converse
and all together––for this I have abandoned
all my other lives.
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The author compares himself a bird and, in the comparison, discovers a life that is worth more than "all [his] other lives." While at first the topic seemed fanciful, it appears that the author convinces himself, and us, that there is importance to this new way of being and then shocks us a little in the end with his declaration.
While keeping this poem in mind, its techniques and its messages, here are some prompts that you may use to write a poem:
- If you could be a creature, flora, or an element in nature, what would you be? Be specific. What does it do? Where can you find it? Describe what it would mean to be this creature and your reaction to it.
- Think of yourself in a situation, or you and a group of others. What are you doing and what is around you? What animals, flora, or elements are you similar to? Describe this relation.
- Take a line from this poem and use this in your poem (a title, a first line, or other). Write.
- What else does this poem remind you of or inspire in you? Write.
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