Fischbach-Braden & Elkin — August 2016
J.C. Elkin and Sylvia Fischbach-Braden traded art and words. Sylvia shared this image, entitled “Birds on Birds,” with J.C.:
In response, J.C. wrote this poem:
Birds on Birds
I’d rather have birds than planes . . . Charles Lindbergh
Bevies of bluebirds, becards and buntings
baby birds, bobolinks, bobwhites and brants
Ibises, indigoes –irate, imposing -indubitably
Resplendent
Dissimulations of birds –downy, dreaming
So many S birds soaring and swooping –
sheerwaters, siskins, skuas and stilts,
shrikes, sparrows, swifts, storks and sandpipers
sapsuckers, seedeaters, whistling swans
Orange-beaked, ovenbirds, orioles, owls
Nuthatches, nighthawks, shrub-nesting noddies
Bashful birds, big bad black birds
Iridescent
Ravens and robins, rooks and redpolls
Diving birds, dancing birds, dickcissels, doves
Songbirds, scary birds,
Sexy, smart, showy birds, like
so many people I know.
* * * * *
J.C. shared this poem with Sylvia:
Winter White
He’s called Old Man Winter, like some geezer
with shrill words for each teen in saggy pants
and sweet ginger chews for each kid
He eats Chinese takeout by the TV
watching Karate Kid, Hawaii Five O
clutching a cardigan to his slight frame
A cardigan white as old snow
or his bride’s wedding dress
yellowing in the attic
White, the color of fulfillment
the color of mourning
where he was born
In response, Sylvia made this image entitled “Take-Out”:
