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Mourning For Breakfast Bird-watching



One side of our house is made of glass and once upon a time

it was graced by shady trees and a hedge - a veritable hawthorn fortress

stuffed full with birds – sparrows, thrushes, blackbirds and tits of every colour.


In spring they would announce their presence in the early hours -

wakening us from our winter slumbers and reconnecting our senses to the world.


Then later we would watch them from our kitchen table while drinking tea and eating Rice Krispies.

We delighted in their darting - From the hedge to the feeders - from the feeders to the hedge.

Until it was time for us to go about our business -

kids to school,

husband and I to work –

And leave them to go about theirs

from the hedge to the feeders

from the feeders to the hedge


Except on Wednesdays

when I stayed home

and washed dishes,

sorted the mail,

fluffed cushions

and watched the birds feather their nests.


Then one morning if we were lucky, we might notice, a very busy corner in our hedge.

And if we ventured into the garden to peer between the green leaves - nestled in amongst barbs and spikey branches we might find a nest, nurturing tiny eggs.


Thereafter we would observe more carefully

while drinking tea

and eating Rice Krispies

or Fish Fingers

or what ever food fad that appealed at the time –

Patiently waiting for a flurry of activity that would signal –

they had broken out of their calcium carbonate prisons

and that they too, were hungry and wanting fed.


Year on year we watched and waited.

Waited and delighted.

Rice crispies became muesli

Fish fingers became cod

And food fads came and went along with the birds.


Until – one day they were no more.

Gone - both the hedge and my birds.

One taken by neighbours who wanted a tidy life

And the others - flown –

to find their own hedges to watch.


And now I am in mourning for breakfast bird-watching.

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6 Comments


Alice Carroll
Alice Carroll
May 12, 2023

Mindfulness at its best. Excellent.

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Dawson Stafford
Dawson Stafford
May 12, 2023

A personal observation with global implications

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Nigel Smith
Nigel Smith
May 11, 2023

You work this narrative style so well Ali, Prose-poetry? Perhaps, that's a topic/ question that has no definitive answer. What I am sure of is that I read it with such ease and pleasure it made me smile. To me you've a certain motif, poetic style that I see in your work regardless of the form you use, and that is a 'lightness of touch', and this I feel from your word choice and placement.

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Alison Blevins
Alison Blevins
May 15, 2023
Replying to

Thank you Nige

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Unknown member
May 11, 2023

love it. makes me think, life (especially with kids) is just so short and demanding, but when you look back, flying with the birds, made it all worth it. 🐦

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Unknown member
May 10, 2023

Nice metaphor use there Ali. Well done

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