You're welcome, Martin. It's a great poem, with a great picture; you and Wilbur are quite the dashing duo ;-) ;>)
The expression 'acrobatics of a flock of pigeons' takes me to Keats's 'a pigeon tumbling in clear summer air', which is pleasant. The pigeons in my garden aren't particularly acrobatic, but they do sing very well. A few years back, there was one with a surprisingly deep voice. 'Quite enchanting,' Word-Bird recalls :>)
Poor Martha. Perhaps I should write a tribute.
Yes, I thought you might know 'Walking the Dog'. I know some of the composers and I particularly like the portrait of Poulenc plus pooch. His (Poulenc's)
sonata was in my clarinet repertoire while I was studying Music at school. I know Bach's Toccata and Fugue quite well too. Stirring!
Thanks for posting your passenger pigeon poem. We love it! The 'billow of birds' takes us to our own dear 'billow-birds' of course, from a silly poem I wrote for the Freshtival thread. Well, I'm probably a natural nonsense poet, lol. But this is brilliant. So many highlights, all the way through, e.g. 'jillion jangles', 'wolf and the weasel', 'bellies sang paeans', the bit about religion, the dear 'bird-cloud'. I'm surprised this hasn't been published. '
I shall publish it,' Word-Bird decides ;>)
Best to you,
Fliss