PAD Day 17: The Blackbirds Reply

Today's dual prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "reason" poem, and (2) write a poem that presents a scene from an unusual point of view. I have written several poems that are parodies or homages to Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" (as have many other poets. I'm sure) - in fact, I just wrote one yesterday. But here's one from the point of view of the blackbirds themselves - not so much a "scene" as a list of opinions and observations.

Thirteen Reasons You Should Look at Us Blackbirds

1. Because we are ominous,

    like crows and ravens,

    though we don't say "Nevermore."

   

2.  Because we weren't in that playground scene

     in The Birds (those were crows),

     but we could have been.

3. Because we don't guard the Tower of London

    (those are ravens),

    but we could.

4. Because in the colorful pageant of nature,

    our darkness is our brightness.

5. Because we can be striking.

    like our red-winged cousins,

    with sergeant stripes on their shoulders.

6. Because you shouldn't confuse us with starlings.

    They think they're pretty,

    but they look like oil slicks.

7. Because a group of us is a cloud,

    or a cluster, or a merl,

    not a "murder" like those dodgy crows.

8. Because when we swarm in the air,

    it's like a plotted equation

    performing a ballet.

    It's called a murmuration,

    and oh, it's a sight to see.

9. Because Paul McCartney liked us

    singing in the dead of night.

10. Because when we sit on a snowy branch

       it is a haiku.

11. Because four and twenty of us

      can be baked in a pie. (Oh, wait...)

12. Because you can pack up all your cares and woes

      and tell us bye-bye.

13. Because Wallace Stevens said so.