Western Yellow Robin
When the Almighty
spoke yellow-bellied robins
into bright being
and told them to multiply,
he already knew
I would observe this robin,
this gentle-grey bird
too shy to wear its colour
on its petite breast,
this yolk-yellow-under bird
drawn from the forest
by the feather-grey and -fine
smoke of my campfire—
and he also foreknew that
I would by virtue
of his implanted image
want to celebrate
and recreate this bird by
speaking it into a poem.
Waterbird Beak Tanka
1. Innovation
Linking Zulu and
Aboriginal know-how,
the hunting egret
has fixed a stabbing spear to
the woomera of its neck!
2. Offset
That brolga posture
and egret plumage—so grand!
Yet the effect is,
dear spoonbill beside the lake,
quite offset by your namesake!