Hope~

Jan26

is the thing with feathers,

(seagulls fishing Washington state)

that perches in the soul,

(puffin in the open ocean off Washington state)

and sings the tune without the words,

and never stops, at all.

(Steller’s jay California).

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,

and on the strangest sea,

(dark-eyed junco California)

yet never in extremity,

(American robin Washington state)


it asked a crumb of me.

(red winged blackbird Washington state)

Cheers to you from Emily & her winged harbingers of hope~

Poem extracts, ‘Hope is the Thing With Feathers,’ Emily Dickinson.

209 thoughts on “Hope~”

  8. I thought that was Emily Dickinson. Those birds are so beautiful. My Mother loved bird-watching and there were several stellar jays that seemed to like our back yard. I love puffins. They have that patch of bright colour and the odd shape of the head which gives them a kind of unique air about them.

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    • It sounds like you see a lot of puffins, which makes you very fortunate in my eyes. These were the first I have seen. I hope to remedy this soon. I always seem to just miss them. Your mother sounds like a kindred spirit ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

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      • My mom loved birds of all kinds. Our house looked out over aboriginal land so there were slo many different species. Mom would look them up if she didn’t know and she recorded each sighting. I have her note books and bird books

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        • Funny you should mention this. I leave shortly to NSW and Tasmania and I bought two Australian Bird Identification books.. I didn’t realize what heavy tomes they would be, but I should have, since Oz has so many birds. One of the books was used. In the back pages a person, I suspect a woman, from the hand writing, had written copious notes of every bird she had spotted and where she saw them. Lots of the place names I didn’t recognize, but she apparently was there for quite a long time and traveled extensively. It was an incredibly impressive list. I have packed this book to bring along and look forward to adding to her notes. And now you tell me your mother did the exact same thing. Jung would call this synchronicity. I am glad I am coming to Oz. Your mother’s books and notes sound precious and I am glad you have them.

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  9. Your photography gives me wings and Emily Dickinson gives me roots.
    My very first collection that won prize money was titled Roots and Wings
    (WV Writers, 1992). The birds look alive and I expect them to take flight
    at any given minute. Just beautiful!

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  12. I’ve seen some of those fine feathered friends here. Not the Puffin – nor the Stellars Jay – though I think I do have some different Jays. I like how you paired the verse with the photos. 🙂

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  17. Cindy, gorgeous photos of birds. I love Emily Dickinson too. Hope springs eternal. Everywhere we gaze in nature, examples of hope can be observed. To continue the squirrel poems of late, I can relate that I caught a big, fat squirrel wrapped around our fancy bird feeder. I have now relocated it to the front porch hanging on a hook. I hope the birds find it as I thought “like a squirrel” to see if it has the smarts to figure out a route to eat more bird seed. Nature and these bird photos are soothing to the spirit. Thank you for quenching my thirst today. ox

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  31. Those blue feathers on the Jay are remarkable and nature always provides the most wondrous experiences.

    May I say that your new photo is very complimentary? Léa xx

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