Beijing Magpie
“May the magpie of happiness return to roost in our trees” – Chinese saying
Pica pica please don’t fly away
Our smoggy air is not a Four Pest ploy.
For health, good fortune, wedded bliss please stay.
We need your dapper black and white for joy.
So you are thief, rogue, louder than a jay
deceptive, sneaky, flashy, brash and coy.
Bold happy bird don’t disappear in grey.
Without you I won’t be a lucky boy!
© 2017 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)
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Prompt – Inspiration
This is another poem inspired by one of the photos in the Shadows and Silhouettes collection from the Boston Globe. This poem was in response to photo is #24
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This April I’m celebrating National Poetry Month by posting some not-as-yet published poems from my files, along with what inspired them. If the prompt inspires you to write a poem of your own, you’re welcome to share it in comments. Just one more day and we’re done with posting this collection. It’s gone by quickly. Thanks for dropping by!
Violet Nesdoly / poems 
Ramona
April 29, 2017 at 2:03 pm
A four pest ploy – I totally enjoyed the background info you provided with the link. I taught Red Scarf Girl to our sixth graders when we studied China, but had never heard of the Four Pests. Love these words: “We need your dapper black and white for joy.”
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Violet Nesdoly
April 29, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Thanks, Ramona! It was interesting to discover that the magpie was considered quite a lucky bird in China. Yet in other places, it’s thought to be a huge pest. They are handsome birds, but rascally too, at least here in Canada.
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