DAWN CHORUS
After the cock-crow,
counterpointed by a barking dog,
cue the precentor, blackbird solo,
with responding voices swelling
from antiphon to chorus
– thrushes and finches, chiff-chaff,
warblers, even a honking crow,
until song verges on cacophony.
Fresh rhythms break through tumult
shaping the daily glossalalia;
deep underlying currents
voice this pentecostal speaking
of the birds, as light unfolds,
spreads iridescent wings that
open up the eastward sky
.
Tony Lucas has lived and worked in inner South London for many years. Hs work has been published both in the UK and America, with the most recent collection of his work, Unsettled Accounts, issued by Stairwell Books in 2015.
