Best Tanager Poems
Summer Nights in the South
Green fireflies blink in the quiet of night
and our sleeping old dog heaves a sigh.
Dreaming, she sprints through a youthful blue sky
chasing delicate clouds, cotton-white.
A red-sunset tanager* colors the warm air
from a perch in the majestic oak limbs above
professing by lullaby, sincerely devoted love,
like some sublimely recited evening prayer.
I lay back and smile, through the leaves, at the moon
to the sound of crops rippling in the breeze
thinking how precious are nights such as these
when alone, with the Earth I commune.
*Summer Tanagers (Piranga rubra) are native to the southern U.S. but are not true tanagers. They are actually members of the cardinal family.
08/01/15
Submission for Contest: Nature Poems Only
Hosted by: Shadow Hamilton
First rays splash lines of love
across naked bits of detour
dawn's door distracts
chills of the night dissipate
and I am free
Free of fight
held hostage ever tight
First rays flash and I see :
yellow bits of honey dripped
scarlet tanager at play
horizons filling out the day
Darkness held at bay__
GARDEN
Two haiku after a painting by Russell Gordon
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, a tanager
harkens to the wind
flowering dogwood
perched and pert, just listening
scarlet tanager
………………………………..
this plaster statue
she’s naked, white and demure
looking at a rose
her round, yellow hat
casts a shadow as she picks
transformation bloom
all is wet and wild
garden cowed by wind and rain
tortoise pokes its head
Repost
summer’s backward glance
reluctant to say adieu
one lonely white rose
Dave Austin
A scarlet tanager sits primly on the rail
Of the new fence erected near the meadow,
He eyes me stroll as I take in every detail
The path to the woodland is rather narrow,
Infrequently used, it is rapidly overgrowing
I am brushing against the yellow yarrow,
As hottest of summer is fast approaching
The meadowland has nary a cooling shadow.
Happily, I note the salt lick has disappeared
I hope its purposes were well-intentioned,
Certainly not as the hunter’s ploy, I feared
In a previous post, I am sure I mentioned.
I feel the coolness of the pleasant breeze
As I approach the edge of the tree line
Where meadow gives way to aspen trees,
And further on, a stand of taller pine.
I shall follow the trail through the wood
To the river which I can faintly hear, ahead
Where I saw a huge buck in full manhood,
And I have seen signs of where he bed.
It is a good two-mile hike, not exhausting
But I stop to examine new growth along
And for moments to reflect, I am pausing,
I’m encouraged by the tanager’s song.
Written June 18, 2022
Blue-green splashes as you pull into the sea cliff curve.
I stop to view nature's rainbows through a glass swerve.
Watch the sparkling waterfalls, trees, stars, and sky.
What is more dazzling than a natural wonder display?
Dance with Fall, a waltz that bent the limbs of the trees.
Tell me all you've been hiding from me under the seas.
Spring, sing to me with the rustling of your wings.
Blow on me your savory smells from your swings.
Sunflower fluff, silver-throated tanager, brisk July flight
An auspicious fall wind makes the hillside maples spray.
A damp gust is swollen away by a breath of fresh air.
The wind carries pollen, seeds, and dying twigs bare.
Written: March 24, 2023
The meadow has come alive with sight and sound
As I go through the gate, I hear buzzing all around,
The bees are busy working on milkweed flower
Waist-high daylilies and coral honeysuckles tower,
Enticing a few hummingbirds into the crowded field
I snap a piece of sassafras which is carefully peeled,
Soon I see three cottontails on the path up ahead
About the same time, a cardinal flashing by, all red,
I hear the call of a tanager and a mourning dove
Today, there is so much here in the meadow to love.
The narrow pathway is overgrowing with wild carrot
Originally blown over here from a nearby cattle lot
Breezes are stirring up the gnats and dragonflies,
And I keep wiping floating pollen out of my eyes.
As I expected the mother deer has weaned her fawn
I’m surprised to see her here so long after the dawn,
The afternoon sun beating down is now aggressive
I should have known better, it’s becoming oppressive.
I’ll head toward home, foregoing a walk to the river
A sunstroke is threatening; I have begun to shiver.
Written July 16, 2022
FILL-INS
An invitation for
the reader to use
imagination
Who? What?
two fine ladies rest
neath a bamboo
umbrella
they talk of a
third?
Fishermen
small boat at anchor
two men mend her
tattered sail
weather or old
age?
Pretty Song
on the dogwood
branches
scarlet tanager and
mate
what song do they
sing?
New York blizzard
snowy avenue
many people
like black streaks
to or from
their work?
Interesting
like Jackson Pollack
this mishmash of
dots and streaks
is there a message?
On the hike
a meadow a
stream
with scattered pines
wild flowers
let’s have a picnic
Baby Bear
so easy to love
he’s a shaggy, gray
kitty
always in the way
.
How beautiful the sounds, sights of nature
In the distance alarm call of a cuckoo,
beautiful sound of summer Tanager
Blackbirds hopping around getting in a stew,
Acrobatics of swallows, swifts, Martins,
Crows of the carrion, rooks, jackdaws, Raven
Cooing of turtle doves and wood pigeons,
Chittering robin, eyes closed what heaven,
Finches so sweet, green, bull, haw, gold and more
Speedy blue, great, coal, willow and marsh ****,
nature is such a pleasure never a chore ,
Seeing these wonderful birds thrills two bits
Serenity while watching our game bird
Pheasant, partridge, grouse, geese and mallard duck
Graceful swans glide, sights and sounds must be heard
Wading birds sifting for food through silt and muck,
birds of prey, kestrel, sparrow hawk, Peregrine
Eagles, buzzards, goshawk, ospreys skilful hunters
Larks hovering, lap wings, owls, magpies so pristine,
Sea birds, waders, hunters, lovely colours,
These moments of relaxation, undisturbed
listening, watching our beautiful wild birds.
"Showers and sunshine slowly bring the deepening verdure o'er the earth; To put their foliage out, the woods are slack, And one by one the singing-birds come back."
~ William Cullen Bryant
As I awakened this morning, I rejoiced to hear
melodies of song birds with lyrical good cheer.
'Twas their news that Spring had finally arrived,
time for nature's splendid beauty to be revived.
No longer would the bite of Winter's chill be felt.
Sunshine will warm the Earth; snow would melt,
The change of season is heralded when robins sing
and flocks of sparrow and goldfinch take to wing.
To my garden I'll hasten. There's much to prepare.
Bird bath needs cleaning to welcome them there.
Feeders to fill with seed to attract pairs for mating.
Chickadees are near, and I can't keep them waiting!
They've nests to build in branches of maples and oaks
I love their whistling melodies, that's why I try to coax
them to remain in my yard for as long as they desire.
There's a cardinal. His crimson hue like flames of fire!
In Spring, flocks of wood thrush and tanager abound.
I open the windows to enjoy their enchanting sound.
My berry bushes feed hungry warblers and blue jays.
Their antics are quite amusing on these vernal days.
Red hibiscus will be in bloom for the ruby throated.
Such mesmerizing little ones. Upon them, I've doted.
Each night I listen to the wailing call of a lonely loon.
Wanting a mate, he howls as a wolf bays at the moon.
When night greets the dawn, I will awake once more
to hear the mellifluous chirping of Spring Aves I adore.
Even if the skies are filled with clouds, gray and dark,
distinctive will be the flutelike chant of a meadowlark.
February 24, 2021
A Spring Birds Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
Inside the forest's sea-of-green,
Sits a hungry, bright-scarlet tanager.
Eating one caterpillar after another,
In minutes he gulps down thirty-five.
Doing its part to help the forest,
Ridding the forest of harmful insects.
And over there in a huge green tree,
A little red-eyed vireo, merrily sits.
Singing its song all through the day,
Preaching its tune for all to hear.
Turning its head from side to side,
Then all at once, its singing stops -
It snatches a ladybug, from a leaf,
A ladybug eating; green-plant lice.
Lice that suck, the green-leaf juices,
Juices that provides food for birds.
Birds like those two, lovely bluejays,
Birds that eat from wild apple trees.
Apples with seeds that will spread,
Spread new trees with Bright-Green Leaves.
Mint leaf season vortex gilds sylvan glaze
vivid hue a scented purple ground mist
citrus brume float locus in dewdrop phase
cherry orchard fruit shoots hearthrob wish list
Gold grosbeak pecking ryegrass fare at dawn
scarlet tanager an oak tree crown rite
wet mallard feet drag bird seed round my lawn
flush choral plume behind the hedgerow sprite
Triumphant March of mother earth womb pearls
airy infant whines elate our senses
green sea tides that flurry sunlit moss curls
hub of nodding reeds a ripe consensus
Zeal infuses luscious pastures growing
spring fount heralds jubilance a-glowing
Sponsor : Constance La France
This poem is a sonnet.
summer tanager
a red streak into the wood
gold sunshine on green
amethyst evening
when the pale moon is glowing
weeping willow breeze
a pink and gold dream
cherry blossom petals fall
with sunshine pouring
dancing in the rain
amid a blur of bright hues
mad mad summer days
With children in tow
on winter’s heels set off to
follow fine artists
Lovingly lost in copper,
canvas, bright color
framboise, tanager, yarrow
Picasso, Beckmann, Klimt
Woman with a Hat, Nighthawks
haunting, surreal …
Writing, painting, tones
sculpting, gazing, trudging on
weary, fulfilled, homeward bound …
If only I could shake off long rigorous winter;
and embrace secret hidden in the cool of spring.
Enlivened by nature; the twitter sound of the Scarlet Tanager,
its red-orange and black feathers, the flame of spring.
As the natural oak loses its yellowish-beige,
worm-like male catkins dress everything in sight
with its yellow pollen; leaving tiny female flowers
for new growth on the limbs.
If only I could see the Overwinter Oak Leaf Rollers
green caterpillars that later turn into adult moths,
feed and hang on silk thread from the leaves
and branches then fall to the ground.
Brown May beetles attracted to the light
And wobble when they fly or walk.
If only I could see the sunlight reft
through sturdy limbs and myriad leaves
of trees and shrubs and from somewhere
hear the rapid clatter drumming sound
of the harbinger of spring, of a single woodpecker.
If only I could see the brilliant and stunning plumage colours
of the blue Jay and the red cardinal and hear them sing
their melodies so freely; feed on sweet pleasing berries,
grown amid full foliage that have had soaked
in the open warm radiant sun.
If only I could shake off long rigorous winter;
and embrace secret hidden in the cool of spring.
3/29/2023
Poetry Contest: 'This or That, Vol 17'
Sponsored by: Edward Ibeh
I followed the violent tanager to find
Where her nest is –
It is three inches in length in this
Gigantic oak hidden from the day’s full light
I watched these noisy and tiny birds
To find where they will be next spring –
I gave myself up in front of too many questions
In a short period of time!