The Names of Birds

by Crawford, Tom; Duncan, David James

• ISBN13: 9781890932404
• ISBN10: 189093240X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-07
• Publisher: Sherman Asher Pub

Summary

A nuthatch walking perpendicular down a tree, "dressed to kill," the hydraulic lift of the sand hill cranes' legs at take-off, the song of the vireo. Perhaps birders are a special species but they also include many of us, who if not trained to binoculars, are still stopped in our tracks at a flickering wing in our peripheral vision.In this latest collection of poems, Tom Crawford lends his keen sense of observation and resonant language to the wonder and evocative nature of birds in all their multiplicity. Here are a hundred pages of remarkable poetry, poems, which, in their accessibility and lyrical celebration, establish man's essential connection with birds and the natural world. As he says in his prologue, "We are spiritual animals. When we forget this essential truth, we invite calamity." These poems are offered like prayers-as if by naming the thing- like Shackleton planting a flag at the north pole -the poet stakes a claim for birds, and by extension the planet. His poems sing an ancient truth: to lose our sense of wonder is to lose ourselves.What makes THE NAMES OF BIRDS unique is the balance the poet strikes between fear and hope, mystery and wonder. This he achieves by telling us a story in poetry of his own beginnings as a boy discovering birds and their magical place in his young life, a story readers of all ages can relate to. Through his evolution to maturity-- his journey from Michigan, to southern California, the Pacific northwest, Manhattan, New Mexico and Asia- China, Korea - his writing becomes infused with Eastern thought and a sense of mysticism. A book for birders and serious readers of poetry alike.

Author Biography

Tom Crawford is the author of five previous books of poetry, and the recipient of the Pushcart Prize, Fore Word Book of the Year, the Oregon Book Award for Poetry (Lauds), and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. David James Duncan is known for his best-selling novels, The River Why and Tie Brothers K which was a NY Times NOTABLE BOOK in 1992.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 11
It's Such a Relief to Want Less	p. 17
For the Certain Dark Days	p. 18
Wing	p. 19
Cowbird	p. 22
The Toll Birds Take	p. 24
Family: Troglodytidae	p. 26
To Make an Owl Make a Poem	p. 28
Water Ouzel	p. 30
The Objective Case of Who	p. 31
I'm Sixty-two	p. 33
The Enthusiast	p. 34
Bushtit	p. 35
Bobcat Bite	p. 36
Steel Cut	p. 39
Going Out	p. 40
Birders	p. 42
Where the Country Goes Wrong	p. 44
Christopher Columbus Discovers the Tar Sands of Alberta	p. 46
Outsider Art	p. 48
Wasn't My Arm a Wing?	p. 51
All the Birds Are Here	p. 53
Harriet	p. 55
The Morandi Gaze	p. 57
Great Word	p. 61
Companion to a Loon	p. 63
Heavy Lifting	p. 64
Gray Lodge	p. 65
Haifa Buddha	p. 66
Crop Circles	p. 67
Release at Netarts Bay	p. 75
Roosevelt's Diary	p. 77
What's Christmas to a Bird	p. 81
Spotter Scope	p. 83
Ram	p. 85
Pigeon Guillemot	p. 86
Crack Corn	p. 87
Redwing	p. 88
Am I My Feet?	p. 89
"Tender Your Resignation"	p. 90
Prayer	p. 91
Bird Walk in China	p. 93
Wu Wei	p. 95
Arrhythmia	p. 99
The Names of Birds	p. 101
It Hands Out the Gold	p. 103
Feeder	p. 104
Not Being a God	p. 105
On the Back Side of a Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM	p. 108
One Bird Works for a While	p. 109
Yellow-breasted Chat	p. 111
The Chinese Might Say, There Is No Tea in You	p. 113
In Order to Let the Soul Out Sooner	p. 114
Cello	p. 116
To Remember, Again, What's Good	p. 118
Crackle	p. 120
Raptor	p. 122
The President's Last Speech	p. 124
What Lasts	p. 126
To Go Very Softly	p. 127
The Pie Is Now	p. 129
Raven	p. 130
The Spill	p. 132
Ownership	p. 133
Bosque del Apache	p. 135
Canary	p. 137
The Good Red Road	p. 138
Acknowledgments	p. 140
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

WINGWhen I was eleven/I found a black wing,/just one wing,/ on our road./I was a loner./Shy. Afraid a lot./ For a long time/I kept it in my pocket./If I was really nervous/I'd take it out/ and fan it open/like a deck of cards./Or I'd throw it up/in the air like it was/ a whole bird/when a flock/ of whistling/blackbirds/flew over./The feathers/ glowed green,/all ten of them/if I held them/up to the sun/and turned it/ just right./After a while/I wore it/ around my neck,/with a white string/ tied to the bone./I'd only take it off/when there was a bully/ around./Then one day/my dad looked/ at me,/ and told me/ I was making/ too much of it./Where the water/spilled over the weir/in the canal/behind our farm,/I let it go. A swirl/ in the current/by the bank caught/ the white string/and my feather,/pulling them out/past the snake grass/and into the fast water./ At the time/it seemed alright/ to me./The water/was a comfort./My wing/ was going/ somewhere/I believed/to a better life./