little piper, little piper
oh how fast you skip away
as the morning tide crawls in to taste the beach
briny swishes bring your breakfast
while you prance to greet the day
and they never seem to wet you
like you're privy to a chosen course of each
little piper, little piper
such a ballet you perform
when you twirl and pirouette your dainty feet
darting in-and-out the sea foam
just to keep them dry and warm
all with perfect form and motion
so as not to warn those little things you eat
little piper, little piper
you're the bane of every clam
watching closely for their bubbles in the sand
oh, the hermit crabs are missing
each-and-each now on the lam
and the hot sand gently hissing
as you try to sate your hungry chick's demand
little piper, little piper
all day long your work persists
as your tummy and your wee one both are fed
so with food enough to sleep on
'midst the creeping twilight mists
and as purple shadows deepen
comes the time to sing your little one to bed
little piper, now you dance in dreams ... instead.
Categories:
sandpiper, analogy, bird, metaphor,
Form: Rhyme
The briny’s ebbed and now far out of sight
And all around a vast expanse we see
With debris left by the retreating sea.
And stretch of golden sand, a real delight.
On rocks are barnacles there clinging tight
Waiting for next high tide to set them free.
A risky life they have, you must agree,
Being at the mercy of the tide each night.
Now on mudflats left by departing tide
This wader slowly struts and keeps keen eye,
Searching to see where the lugworms may hide.
Hoping to spot sand spirals there to try.
Each one he stabs as he then wanders wide
For those lugworms are vital food supply.
Categories:
sandpiper, animal, beach, food,
Form: Sonnet
They'd wade at standards to be seen by most.
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper, who shares wading,
to dying, one hundred ten, and counting.
Stretched East Asia, Russia through China ... host.
They've spoon-shaped bills to help them scoop up moss,
insects, shrimp, and worms. They are renowned for
their calls, which males fly and sing a rapport,
sounds like 'preep' and 'wheer' can stretch it across.
Human encroachment on their feeding and
breeding wetlands threatens their survival.
Predators plague their nest a revival,
two decades, numbers dropped by two thousand.
The ascension for most and few still greens,
a descension of value bows night scenes.
Categories:
sandpiper, allusion, analogy, appreciation, bird,
Form: Crown of Sonnets
I watch fascinated
at its teetering stance,
bobbing up and down,
picking at small insects
that infest the lonely loch,
that it chooses instead of
upland streams or creeks
or fast-flowing rivers,
or in some lonely lake.
Today I sit on a small chair,
behind some bushes on the shore
of a lonely loch, away from it all.
Ah sandpiper, are you emulating me?
Are you in search of lonely spots too,
far from the worrisome cities of the world?
Let's leave behind us wars and strife,
enjoy a bit of peace. Let us be true to love.
A breeze strikes, up and up you fly,
with stiff bowed brown wings
and your characteristic cry,
swee-wee-wee, swee-wee-wee.
Where will you go for shelter?
Do you prefer the secluded estuaries
or the protected inland lakes?
I see you return, too good a place to miss.
But look, you've found a mate.
Heaven provides, love conquers all.
I think I'll turn in, my wife awaits.
Categories:
sandpiper, appreciation, bird,
Form: Free verse
The briny's ebbed and out of reach
and in its wake a fresh clean beach
but left behind and snagged on rock
are slimy strings of bladder wrack.
In rock pools some creatures marooned
and bits of bygone life abound,
like skeletons of crustacean
that once thrived in this vast ocean.
A sandpiper struts on mudflat
as that is where his food is at.
For cone shaped casts he keeps keen eye
knowing that's where a lugworm lie.
His pointed beak is poised to stab
into the mud a worm to grab.
He must be quick to win his fill
for soon returning tide will spill.
Categories:
sandpiper, sea,
Form: Rhyme
This world, never ours alone, but shared with other creatures great and small.
The Earth turns and new dawn comes, and will long after we're gone.
A Sandpiper flitted along the shore and told me so.
We must face a truth that we borrowed these days, you and I,
from benefactors and trustees, unborn and untested, yet will be.
I finally understand now, watching the selfless Caracal's practiced smile..
the tawny red bearded lion basks in the same sunshine.
Touch a heart, lift a soul will you? It's not too late.
For I have faith we are mostly good.
Now listen to the song of nature, be kind..
and don't worry about what never would.
Categories:
sandpiper, bird, cat, inspirational, nature,
Form: Prose
I saw a one-legged Sandpiper
today on the beach.
I saw him land on his single pedestal,
it was an artful thing.
Entranced by his disability,
I stood transfixed with curiosity.
I so wanted to help him
but we're worlds apart.
How can he feed?
How can he fend?
Suddenly, he flew away up the beach,
I followed him.
There he stood lightly wafting in the wind,
still balanced on that single leg.
His fellow Sandpipers scurry about
unnoticing his remarkable challenge.
Later, a kindly friend told me
shorebirds often hide one leg
to conserve energy.
Silly, I felt a loss
for my misplaced empathy
towards my one-legged friend.
What a self-centered bubble
I live in.
We're always so troubled by
what we think we know.
Truth is, we know so little.
Next time on the beach,
I'll look for the one-legged Sandpiper.
It'll remind me that
there's so much I still don't know.
Categories:
sandpiper, animal, appreciation, bird, judgement,
Form: Free verse
I watch them on the beach -
shorebirds they are called
running here and there.
Residents of land more than the air,
they'd rather poke their beaks into the sand
probing for morsels of tasty crustaceans.
Pecking, always pecking,
scrambling to and fro,
they're focused, ever focused
on the job at hand.
Not especially strong, graceful, colorful, or pretty,
they are, however, speedy.
They scuttle easily through low tides,
rushing for the shore on skinny legs
when waves come crashing.
These industrious little creatures
seem unconcerned with the loftiness of clouds.
Yet at times, they will gather as one body in the sky,
performing an amazing aerial show.
Run, sandpiper, run. Soon your eggs will hatch.
In your being grounded
you reap rewards.
Written by Andrea Dietrich on 9/17/13
for nette onclaud's BUILD YOUR OWN SAND!Poetry Contest
Categories:
sandpiper, bird,
Form: Free verse
A solitary sandpiper picks his path
Three - four maybe a score
Find them on any sandy shore
Marvelous kaleidoscope of mobility
Double jointed tooth pick legs
Old time movies jerk ahead
Staccato motion, roaming and roving
Pointed beak pecks at sand
As if going treasure troving
So intent upon the chore
Hopping over grounded wave
Flap and fly three feet away
Running, racing rain or shine
Like a cycle rider in a line
Skip, leap, nary a peep,
Always hunting, peck and bob.
This no eight to five job.
Categories:
sandpiper, nature
Form: Verse