A Field Guide for Young Naturalists 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

Patrick’s current collection, From The Family Album, is available for purchase from his website.


 

 

             

             

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Christmas present from an aunt

soon put me off with its long lists

of microscopes and other kit

a ten-year-old could not afford.

 

Hankering to explore my world

and study birds and butterflies,

I quickly scanned the Contents page

for simple projects to absorb.

 

There, in a list of Handy Hints,

I found what I was looking for :

Hang Peanuts from your bird table

and watch for blue tits to arrive.

 

So, sorting through the sewing box,

I chose black cotton for the nuts

and, threading them through open husks,

in innocence, a trap was made.

 

Soon bored with waiting for a flock

of small, nut-eating acrobats,

I settled down to kill some time

and lost myself in comic books…

 

As fierce Apaches stormed the ridge,

the sound of war-whoops filled the air…

these swiftly changed to jabbering

as real life suddenly came clear.

 

From the garden, fierce chattering :

a blue tit struggled desperately –

trapped by a leg, entwined in thread,

it flapped and fluttered to get free.

 

With no one close to lend a hand,

I grasped those frantic flailing wings,

shared in its trembling and stark fear,

while scrambling to release its leg.

 

Somehow my palsied fingers freed

its frailty from the binding thread

and luck, not judgement, played its part

in fumbling this bird’s release.

 

And so I learnt that actions made

demand responsibility;

then, taking down my blue tit traps,

I went in search of better books…

 

 

Patrick B. Osada

 

 

  

 

Still Life with Feathers by Patrick B. Osada

Owlswood Park by Patrick B. Osada

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Poems