A quadrille for Dverse Poets Pub. It is quadrille Monday and De is hosting. She has gifted us the word “fill” or a variant of the word.
The Songs of Birds
“You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
It is cold and rainy but the trees
are speaking with the voices of birds.
Their songs fill the air –
they must have known I was lonely and
needed a friendly chirp or two.
I wander around this empty house
like a ghost – weeping.
kanzen sakura 
Feb 10, 2020 @ 16:40:27
You are never alone 🙂
Feb 10, 2020 @ 20:46:58
Rainy days have a way of amplifying sadness. I am glad the birds still sing even on dreary sad days.
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:05:41
So am I
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:09:39
As am I
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Feb 10, 2020 @ 20:55:32
Oh yes. I can hear the birds…..and see you, weeping. I love that the trees are speaking with the voices of birds. I hope their songs bring some comfort, Toni.
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:09:20
Sometimes
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Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:16:10
Oh, Toni. I love that you are finding some tiny chirp of comfort in small places, and allowing the trees to sing to you. Sending you so much love, and hugs.
I love that it’s the trees that are speaking, as I am always deeply enamored of tees.
“the trees
are speaking with the voices of birds”
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:28:11
Yes rain holds a sadness but birds a certain solace and joy. This is absolutely lovely Toni.
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:42:46
What a lovely thought – the trees are speaking with the voices of birds ☺️ I’m happy you can find comfort in Nature on these dark days. ❤️
Feb 10, 2020 @ 21:44:22
I like the idea of birdsong making one less lonely.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 01:27:40
Oh, Toni. I can imagine the trees, bird-leaved, bird-voiced, and your sadness. So bleak.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 04:04:38
I admire the way you’ve used pathetic fallacy to explore your grief, Toni, and the way the ‘trees are speaking with the voices of birds’.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 08:36:53
Trees speaking with the voices of birds is beautiful, and they do lighten the grey and rainy days. I’m so sorry about your grief.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 09:47:49
Tree and birds don’t know grief, or if they do it’s only passing. Perhaps that’s why we take comfort from them. Nothing lasts, not even grief.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:42:58
I think I will carry this grief until I die. It will get better but it will never leave. Losing half of your heart and life stays with you. My mother grieved her husband until she died at 87.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:51:34
Never heal, but get easier to bear. My grandmother mourned thirty years for her husband who died when she was in her early fifties, and two children who died when they were three and five years old. She was on medication all the rest of her life, and it was always there in the background, but she had a life to live and she persevered with it. I know what you mean though and I wish it wasn’t like that.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:05:18
I know. But it is especially when you were each other’s focus. We didn’t have children on purpose.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:07:01
I think that’s the way they were, but losing children too just made her doubt any justice divine or otherwise. Given her background that was a difficult path to follow.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:10:24
One always expects to bury you parents but never your children. My cousin lost her son in a swimming incident when he was 11. She never recovered from it although she lived her life. Her husband suicided because he blamed himself. So tragic and heartbreaking.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:17:15
No, no parent should have to bury their children. Animals mourn lost babies too. It’s unnatural, inadmissible. Losing a loved one at whatever stage of life is hard. Too hard for some. And there’s nothing anyone can do, no amount of well-wishing and praying (if you’re that way inclined) that helps in the slightest.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:31:06
Hugs help some. But it is still agonizing
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 15:53:17
Then have some virtual hugs. As many as you want.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 10:18:53
This is so poignant and beautiful Toni. My heart goes out to you, and I send you peace and light.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:41:04
Bless you
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 11:31:03
The imagery is powerful here, Toni….just as your emotions and grief are. I think of your gardens and your trees and hope they provide you some comfort. You’ve written so often of sitting on your porch, walking in your garden…I hope the weather shall let you do this and those daffodils and blooming trees share their beauty with you.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:40:46
I think they will. I am not sure if I am up to a garden this year but there are plenty of blooms out for my bees. They are doing well and sharing bee hugs with each other.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 11:55:12
kaykuala
How sad! At least there is some kind moments to cushion the sad moments! Good thoughts Toni!
Hank
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:39:01
Thank you
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 12:19:11
I love air filled with the voice of birds. Sadly silence here but maybe soon?
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:38:43
Eventually
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 13:52:34
Speaking with the Voices of Birds is a really lovely and evocative line.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 14:38:06
Thank you
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 16:10:32
So heavy with sorrow… still the birdsong has to be a little bit comforting.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 16:41:33
It is.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 19:38:11
I am glad you were given birdsong to ease the loneliness. It must be extremely difficult for you.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 19:42:23
Thank you. It is hell and tears.
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Feb 11, 2020 @ 20:44:58
Look to the birds for happy sounds. At the very least, they are a distraction.
Feb 11, 2020 @ 22:22:31
I like how you described the trees speaking through the birds.
Feb 12, 2020 @ 12:30:40
There is no song to end grief, only to remind us of good days and bad. Birdsong is definitely a gift.
Feb 12, 2020 @ 14:07:10
Yes it is.
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Feb 13, 2020 @ 05:23:00
Such a masterful poem, beautiful and earthbound in its grief, beautiful because the undeniable grief frames the way the joy took flight. So hard to miss that. The trees and the birds are not commensal in this poem, but they are bound as one body, one species, a fluid unity. When the birds fly away, the tree may still be decked in greenery, but it is changed, speechless and missing a part of its life, a ghost weeping, as does the vault of heaven in the rain. I love how this poem ties all things together, what has loved and what has lost. I think of Amanda Shires song about being a bird, as if eyes didn’t know how to cry. Important and lovely poem Toni.
Feb 13, 2020 @ 15:05:48
Thank you Lona for your insightful and penetrating comment. My husband died suddenly 12/22 and I am grieving deeply.
Feb 13, 2020 @ 05:25:05