soft terns swifts swallows
plovers ascending
rails crakes grebes to earth
harsh bitterns, thrashers and thrushes
surviving as tyrant flycatcher, fisher
of kings, catcher of oysters
woodpecker or spoonbill
behind gentle hummingbird mocking-
bird bunting gallinules
foolish ibis cuckoos and boobies
egged on by coots gannets
the mysterious skua
delicate seedeaters lapwings
osprey melodious new world warblers
sandpipers percussive kites
a militant accompaniment
cardinals troupials martins
a frigatebird cormorant
suspicious guineafowl
weather turning shearwaters
to storm-petrels gulls
indecipherable anis jaegers
tanagers and vireos
at last, nightjars
avocets and stilts
bananaquit after caracaras
doves into silence
typical owls barn owls
heron-still.
Reading this poem out loud was delightful, the way the tongue tripped over the list of familiar and unfamiliar bird names. I’m intrigued about your choice of Anguilla – any particular reason for focusing on this location?
I’m glad you enjoyed it – it was fun to write and prompted by a random wikipedia article!
A glorious ‘list’ poem. I enjoyed it, Saradha.