Shaun of Las Vegas, Nevada is our host today for the 18th day of #VerseLove2024. He inspires us to read this poem by Charles Bukowski that you can find here, along with the full prompt. [Bukowski, Charles. Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way. New York: Ecco (An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2003.]
Then, he urges, Think about your life. Do you feel like there is something holding you back? Do you feel stuck or helpless in your circumstances? Do you remember a time when you persevered and overcame the challenges thrown at you? Perhaps you can tap into your inner-coach and deliver that life-changing halftime motivational speech!
I found inspiration in these lines of Bukowski’s
just watch them.
Listen to them.
I also added ending lines from Old Woman of the Roads by Padraic Colum
out of the wind’s and the rain’s way
The Neighborhood
there they are
building nexts
in the garage
again
three already
we can’t even
put the door
down because
there’s one on top
and on the toolbox
and in the corner
in a box
three wrens
friends?
just watch them.
Listen to them.
building houses
chirping dreams
in this
regular
bird-friendly
neighborhood
out of the wind’s
and the rain’s way
Common Threads 
I love the boldness of wrens and where they put their nests. I’ve been hearing many wrens on my Merlin app. A friend told me they are nesting in her mailbox. The again in your poem tells me this is not the first time.
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Margaret, indeed – – they seem to love us, for some reason we can’t figure out. They nest so fast that I’d left the top of a bird feeder’s spring top lid open to remind myself to fill it, and when I came back to it, a wren had built a nest and had two eggs in it. So I’m down a feeder for a season, but hey – – it’s serving a bird purpose still, right?
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Kim,
I’m reminded of Fran’s finches reading your poem today. Lovely image full of promise in “chirping dreams.”
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Thank you so much, Glenda!
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