Bluebird Speaks

Here I sit, eating red berries, amongst the new-
fallen snow that’s softer than an old baby sweater.
You probably thought my color was solid blue, but
my breast is brown as a cello, making me better.

Humans are usually unaware of my nocturnal traits,
my slumber provides dreams just as vivid as yours.
I often dream that I’m a different species, instead of
a bluebird in this mountain town by the river shores.

Sometimes I dream of being a vividly colored macaw,
living in a tropical rain forest that is far to the south.
Or a gannet diving so deep into the ocean waves,
that I resurface with a shiny pearl in my mouth.

Once I dreamed I was a trained Peregrine falcon,
living long ago back in the time of Earl Grey.
I would fly very fast, then swoop quite low, while
avoiding detection and returning with my prey.

When my pleasant dreamtime is over, I emerge
from my slumber, forced to start each day anew.
I trudge through the drudgery of my daily tasks,
knowing sleep is my reward, because birds dream too.

——

My dramatic monologue poem in response to Linda Kruschke’s Dramatic Monologue Paint Chip Poetry Prompt.

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE: Poem spoken by a character or through a persona (Greek for “mask”), rather than by the poet or an unidentified *speaker. In a dramatic monologue, the speaker must be identified, although he need not be named. The character who speaks the monologue will usually be human, but it an be an animal, a plant, or perhaps an inanimate object. Definition from the poetry dictionary by John Drury.

THE CHALLENGE: Please title your poem “____________ Speaks.” And please include at least four of these words and phrases in your dramatic monologue: bluebird, Earl Grey, pearl, mountain town, baby sweater, rain forest, and cello.

See more Paint Chip Poetry.