Beijing Magpie

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!

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Magpie

Poetry took a back seat this busy summer of being a mom and grandma first, writer second. But I did take lots of photos and tried to write a little something every day inspired by a photo.

Northeast B.C., where we spent the last three weeks with family, has many magpies. One morning one of them  was flitting about in a yard we passed on our walk. It is the subject of my poem for August 10th.

 

Did you know…

– Australian magpies swoop and buzz walkers, joggers and cyclists during nesting season.

– Magpies are known (along with other corvids) for their intelligence. The Eurasian magpie even recognizes itself in a mirror.

– In some countries (like China) people believe magpies (Pica pica) bring good luck. They also appear as characters in folklore, stories, and rhymes from around the world

– Some people love magpies but others don’t!

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This poem is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Dori Reads.