Get Your Premium Membership

Lyrebirds

A short walk from the road you are deep in forest. Tall mountain ash form pillars that hold up space and keep a cathedral of shade within its walls. High overhead, a canopy of leaves curtain the sky in prayerful whispers. Tree ferns crowd a gully where fallen giants bridge a creek carrying a trickle of mountain tears. You keep your silence not wanting to intrude on another's grief. Sometimes you can hear lyrebirds perform their repertoire of mimic song. One, they say, can copy the sound of a chain saw, another, the long drawn out whine of a siren as it races towards a fire.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2025




Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 3/21/2025 5:38:00 PM
Paul, you are a true artist; painting a landscape with words that speaks and whispers it's soulful melancholy into our hearts. Wonderful that you have again been recognised - you are a shaft of warming light for our insight hungry hearts. Blessings S:) x
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/25/2025 6:59:00 PM
Apology for delayed acknowledgement Sam....my sincere thanks for your gracious comments. Hard to fit into the space you gave me ....feel honored and very grateful Blessings in return my friend..
Date: 3/19/2025 1:16:00 PM
Whoohoo thats what l like to see your name and your incredible poem up here Paul where it should be! So happy to see you got POTD my lovely friend…Debx
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/21/2025 1:36:00 AM
Such a boost to receive such support Deb...your long standing encouragement and faithful readership means a lot. It is comforting to know that there is a generous friend willing to welcome my little creations a give them a place to land. Thankyou Deb...treasured.
Date: 3/19/2025 11:22:00 AM
and keep a cathedral of shade… Tree ferns crowd a gully…the whineof a siren & keeping the silence…well done, Poet! Congrats on POTD!
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/21/2025 1:25:00 AM
Sincere thanks Kim for your positive feedback...I like the annointing word 'Poet'...there is always a kind of reticence to wear the title..it seems lofty ... therefore I indeed appreciate that you have given me the honor. Valued. Regards, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 6:25:00 PM
' leaves curtain the sky in prayerful whispering. ' This is my favorite thought within. The image is beautiful, hopeful and tender, yet inspiring. So many emotions curl around your words. Congratulations Paul, on Poem of the Day. My best to you. Hugs, Brandy
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 11:02:00 PM
Hi Brandy. The first stanza came to mind virtually as is inluding the line referred to. There's an alchemy to poetry sometimes... Thankyou for your kind words, always appreciate learning how a poem is received. In this case, it fell into a caring and gentle space...take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 3:28:00 PM
Congratulations on your POTD win. I enjoyed reading your "Lyrebirds" write. Have a wonderful day with your win..........
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:37:00 PM
Hi Paula. Good to hear that you enjoyed the poem...thankyou for the feedback. Valued... Regards, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 11:57:00 AM
Hello Paul, congratulations on your POTD win with this beautifully painted piece of the wonders in our forests. An enjoyable read.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:35:00 PM
Appreciate your kind words Zyrool...pleased that the painting came together in your minds eye...always good to get such feedback. Thankyou. Cheers, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 10:04:00 AM
Pretty cool. Congrats on your POTD.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:32:00 PM
Thanks Benjamin...now that what the forests need...a touch of cool rather than incessant and increasing heat. Take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 9:49:00 AM
Made for an environmental campaigner, dear Paul. The fascination of the mimic bird cleverly voiced, a tree hugger’s heartful embrace, a firebird’s primordial call. Congratulations on poem of the day! Lyrical and bruting, sequestered soliloquy.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:29:00 PM
Thankyou Anaya for your thoughtful comments...for wandering into the poem and taking in the forest perfumes. An honor to have your company for a few lines...can I sign you up as a fellow tree hugger ?. Take care...Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 8:38:00 AM
As elegant as it is foreboding, exquisite poetry. Congratulations on POTD! xomo
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:15:00 PM
Very much appreciate your generous words Maureen. Good to learn that the poem carried its meaning and had something to say. Thankyou for taking the time to drop a note...take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 8:26:00 AM
what descriptive imagery and personification, I was very moved by the second stanza Paul, many congrats on POTD:-) hugs jan xx
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 3:08:00 PM
Thankyou Jan for spending a little time walking through the poem...indeed the second stanza is pivitol, injects the emotional weight into the poem. Very much value your feedback...take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 6:28:00 AM
Excellent as always Paul. Congratulations on POTD honors.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:57:00 PM
Good to hear from you Daniel...me ol mate. Thanks for reading the poem and giving it a tick. Take care friend...
Date: 3/18/2025 5:50:00 AM
Dear Paul, Congratulations on this masterfully crafted POTD with it's sad reminder of the cost of man's disregard for nature.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:55:00 PM
Thankyou Nancy for your kind words...pleased that the poem spoke and resonated.....obviously found a kindred spirit. Take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 5:32:00 AM
A very grand illustration and picturesque word painting. Congratulations!
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:48:00 PM
Hi Christuraj...Thankyou for your comments and for reading the poem...appreciated. Prefer to use words rather than paint...get into a horrible mess with the latter and everything turns out to be a study in abstract absurdity. Take care, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 4:36:00 AM
So fitting a spring potd! Congratulations Paul!
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:38:00 PM
Thankyou dear Karen for your congratulatory note and spending a little time walking through the poem..much appreciated. Regards, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 4:23:00 AM
Thrilled to see your words as POTD Paul. You're one of my favourite poets in the World :)
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:34:00 PM
Thankyou DD for being such a long time, faithful reader of my little creations, enduring my silences, pushing through the oddities, so generous in your support and commentary. That creative and free mind of yours that fuels your poetry is equally blessed with a kind spirit. Valued my friend.
Date: 3/18/2025 4:17:00 AM
Paul, thank you for the reverent experience along with its plaintive cry. A Fav poem for me. Congratulations on Poem of the Day.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:21:00 PM
Thankyou Mark for your comments and for giving the poem a fav stamp...very much appreciated. Pleased you picked up its mood. Cheers my friend.
Date: 3/18/2025 3:53:00 AM
Poetic wizardry Paul, and you’re master of the craft, the birdsong warning comes through loud and clear, with a final stanza screaming from the treetops, or maybe they are pylons, Congratulations on a more than deserving POTD, cheers David
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 2:10:00 PM
Humbled by your generous comments David...they send me off full of vigor, rummaging the place where this poem came from, hoping to find another specimen I can exhibit. Thankyou my friend for your support and encouragement. Cheers, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 3:18:00 AM
I am so happy to see one of your fine writes be recognized as potd. The quiet beauty your words enhance about the forest is in stark contrast to the threat to it by the chain saw and the alarming sound of sirens when threatened by fire. Clever ending, Paul and congratulations.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 1:48:00 PM
Dear Lin, feel privileged to get a double dose of your kindness...very much value your poetic instinct and the support you offer me. So encouraging for an old fella shaping little poems into wings, hoping they will take flight. Sincere thanks my friend.
Date: 3/18/2025 2:59:00 AM
- Thanks for the trip, I enjoy the nature... congratulations on your p.o.t.d., Paul :) -
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 1:39:00 PM
Hi Anne-Lise, thankyou for your congratulatory note...pleased that you spent a little time in the poem taking in nature. Valued. Cheers, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 2:38:00 AM
Sounds like a wonderful place to be Paul, near a forest with its beauty to see and birdsong to hear. Congratulations on receiving the honour for poem of the day… Beryl
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 1:34:00 PM
I think we all have a soulful connection to the majesty of forests...they seem to resonate with an innate sanctity. Thankyou Beryl for your kind words. Regards, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 2:26:00 AM
Paul, a great poem and journey, love the forest imagery. Congratulations on POTD.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 1:30:00 PM
Hi Tania...indeed appreciate your congratatory note...more that you spent a little time with the poem...thankyou. Cheers, Paul
Date: 3/18/2025 12:32:00 AM
You take the reader on an amazing journey Paul, congratulations to you on the honour of POTD. Tom
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/18/2025 1:26:00 PM
Thanks Tom for accompanying me on this forest walk. Appreciate your congratulatory note. Regards, Paul
Date: 3/17/2025 5:36:00 AM
Hello Paul, I felt this one carries the weight of something sacred. There’s reverence in the way you move through the forest almost like a quiet observer, honoring what has been and what still lingers in the hush of the trees. The cathedral of shade, the prayerful whisperings and these aren’t just descriptions, they feel like the breath of the place itself. Spring Blessings, My Dear Friend, Daniel
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/17/2025 6:20:00 AM
So pleased to receive your comments Daniel...sensitive and thoughtful as usual, picking up on the feelings that found voice in the poem. Do value and appreciate your reading. Thanks for the blessing and same offered to you...though down under, Autumn is upon us. Enjoy the vigor and perfumes of the season up there in the northern hemisphere.
Date: 3/17/2025 12:22:00 AM
Fantastic writing Paul, I was happily in natural cathedral whilst reading your words. Soaking up the history and mystery of it all.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/17/2025 5:40:00 AM
Glad that you entered into the space...I so much value your visits DD...my poems always have a chair and a cup of tea or coffee ( or whatever is your preferred drink } waiting for you along with a chocolate truffle. Cheers, dear friend.
Date: 3/16/2025 5:58:00 AM
Paul, your narrative took me along with you into the forest. Each step you took put me on the path behind you, hearing the mimic of lyrebirds and across the fallen tree over the gulley. Oh, what a line calling the trickle of a stream the tears of a mountain. You do personification so well.
Login to Reply
Willason Avatar
Paul Willason
Date: 3/17/2025 5:35:00 AM
So pleased the poem found a connection, Lin....means much. The feel of the landscape got inside my head in this poem and your kind words seems to confirm that some of that feeling managed to come through. It's a subtle call for conservation and care. Again, sincerely value your sensitive and informed feedback Lin....

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry