To Lose or Keep?

 

Shape, I find, or line,

are what enchant me most

when I gaze at art …

then colour.

Best, of course, 

when all combine 

into jubilant, or sweet, 

or thrilling, or even fierce.

My dad always said:

if ever told he had to choose 

between sight and hearing,

he’d go deaf quick.

Agreed. But now

(hearing already fading)

I never want to miss

the full rich carolling

of the magpie in the morning

early up the street,

or the kookaburra’s

riotous chuckle.

The whipbird, the bellbird;

the high, celebratory 

trill of the butcher bird;

even the rasp of the crow –

these are the songs

of my friends, in my home.

I’d not be without them.

Please, let me keep all my senses!

NaPoWriMo 2025, Day 23. 

Note:

Aussie magpies are different from those elsewhere, though they 

look very similar (and were named after the Eurasian magpie which 

they most resemble). They are actually a different species from all 

the other birds called magpies – and they have the most beautiful    song of any bird I ever heard.

I'm sharing this with Poets and Storytellers United for Friday Writings #174, where we're asked to consider a time we had to decide between Two Equally Yummy Options. Though not written for that prompt, this almost fits it.