to Ron
Rosy-cheeked Eos, the goddess of dawn,
Lightly entered on a unicorn,
Lighting up the skies with a pink and golden hue,
Adorning the stage with shiny droplets of dew
Which shivered in the morning chill
On blades of grass, tiny cobwebs and flowers around a rill.
Feathered residents of forest and meadows in early spring,
Began opening their eyes and stretching their wings,
To start a new day fresh and calm,
Full of possibilities, beauty and charm.
A skylark commenced his courtship with cheerful singing,
Followed by tones of flute by a thrush happily chirping.
Yellow-tailed black cockatoo had them all startled
With her loud eerie wailing of a martyr.
A mocking magpie mimicked that cry,
Then chattered and laughed without saying why.
A tiny timid robin dressed in white and copper plumage,
Smoothed out his feathers to pay his wife a homage,
First in discrete tones of cheeps and chirrs,
Then, more melodious high notes with whistles and trills.
A tinier still wren joined in with a warbling forceful soprano,
Only to be challenged by a blue tit's high pitched tremolo.
A blackbird, to the lady of his heart,
Intoned, exaltedly yet mellowly like a bard,
A melody pleasanter than a pearls' string.
So much so, that a cuckoo responded in his resonating way to sing.
And so all the forest echoed with the 'coo-coo' call.
They were only missing a 'hoot-hoot-hoot' of a night owl.
When a charismatic chaffinch with his bubbling song entered the stage,
A northern cardinal in his scarlet frock, as if enraged,
Sang an aria of chips and whistles like a tenor proud
To an excited, cheering and appreciative crowd.
At last, a woodpecker gently drummed on a hollow tree
And so all the birds sang to their partners-to-be.
When the sun was ready to set in the West,
Appeared on the stage, the singer of them best,
A delicate nightingale started his masterpiece:
A loud whistling crescendo with subtle chirps and trills,
Captivating the world with his urgent and cheerful voice,
Intricately weaving in clicks, beeps, raps and ticks of his choice.
Hearing this, a pair of gold crowned cranes,
Held one another's loving gaze,
And raising a joyful cry, they lifted their wings in a stance,
Starting their nuptial anniversary dance.
And so they danced hypnotised, round and round,
Not to music but to their heartbeat sound,
Ducking their heads, elongating their necks,
Following a complicated routine of steps.
They spread, at last, those majestic wings,
Mirroring each other in a life-long bliss.
Rosy-cheeked Eos, the goddess of dawn,
Lightly entered on a unicorn,
Lighting up the skies with a pink and golden hue,
Adorning the stage with shiny droplets of dew
Which shivered in the morning chill
On blades of grass, tiny cobwebs and flowers around a rill.
Feathered residents of forest and meadows in early spring,
Began opening their eyes and stretching their wings,
To start a new day fresh and calm,
Full of possibilities, beauty and charm.
A skylark commenced his courtship with cheerful singing,
Followed by tones of flute by a thrush happily chirping.
Yellow-tailed black cockatoo had them all startled
With her loud eerie wailing of a martyr.
A mocking magpie mimicked that cry,
Then chattered and laughed without saying why.
A tiny timid robin dressed in white and copper plumage,
Smoothed out his feathers to pay his wife a homage,
First in discrete tones of cheeps and chirrs,
Then, more melodious high notes with whistles and trills.
A tinier still wren joined in with a warbling forceful soprano,
Only to be challenged by a blue tit's high pitched tremolo.
A blackbird, to the lady of his heart,
Intoned, exaltedly yet mellowly like a bard,
A melody pleasanter than a pearls' string.
So much so, that a cuckoo responded in his resonating way to sing.
And so all the forest echoed with the 'coo-coo' call.
They were only missing a 'hoot-hoot-hoot' of a night owl.
When a charismatic chaffinch with his bubbling song entered the stage,
A northern cardinal in his scarlet frock, as if enraged,
Sang an aria of chips and whistles like a tenor proud
To an excited, cheering and appreciative crowd.
At last, a woodpecker gently drummed on a hollow tree
And so all the birds sang to their partners-to-be.
When the sun was ready to set in the West,
Appeared on the stage, the singer of them best,
A delicate nightingale started his masterpiece:
A loud whistling crescendo with subtle chirps and trills,
Captivating the world with his urgent and cheerful voice,
Intricately weaving in clicks, beeps, raps and ticks of his choice.
Hearing this, a pair of gold crowned cranes,
Held one another's loving gaze,
And raising a joyful cry, they lifted their wings in a stance,
Starting their nuptial anniversary dance.
And so they danced hypnotised, round and round,
Not to music but to their heartbeat sound,
Ducking their heads, elongating their necks,
Following a complicated routine of steps.
They spread, at last, those majestic wings,
Mirroring each other in a life-long bliss.