Still Life with Feathers by Patrick B. Osada

 


 

Patrick B. Osada  is an editor and also writes reviews of poetry for magazines. He recently retired after ten years on SOUTH Poetry Magazine’s management team and as the magazine’s reviews editor

 

His first collection, Close to the Edge was published in 1996 & won the prestigious Rosemary Arthur Award. He has published six collections, How The Light Gets In was launched in June 2018.

 

Patrick’s work has been broadcast on national and local radio and widely published in magazines, anthologies and on the internet.. 

 

For more information about his work and a selection of his poetry, visit :

 www.poetry-patrickosada.co.uk

 


 

 

             

             

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One bracing day, we watched them go :

leaving the nest box in strong winds.

Unable to fly in such a gale,

from off the ground I rescued one

and placed him in a nearby tree,

knowing that soon he would be found

by anxious, watching, parent birds.

Next day we saw that four bird brood

perched in the apple tree in line,

fluttering wings, demanding food.

 

Weeks later, from my laddered perch,

I freed the birdbox, took it down,

ready to empty, clean and paint.

The final stubborn screw unscrewed,

carefully I removed the roof

allowing daylight to flood in

to this dark space – the bluetit’s home.

A filigree of spider’s web

obscured the nest, catching the sun,

masking the contents from my sight.

 

Perched on a bed of moss and fur

with face inclined towards the hole

through which he’d last heard parents’ call

and watched his siblings take to flight,

he seemed complete. Perfect and whole –

as if somehow he’d been preserved,

saved by God’s taxidermist’s art –

waiting for tiny wings to grow

enough to take him to the light

and join his brood – if life could start.

 

 

Patrick B. Osada

 

From my collection : How The Light Gets In (Dempsey & Windle Publishers)

 

 

Owlswood Park by Patrick B. Osada

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