LUCERNE GOLDCOLLAR

This year, the chickens are once again shown during the last week of the Washington State Fair. But, new, is the pigeons being shown during opening weekend. So, I brought my donations for the Puyallup Food Bank and went and visited with some of the most beautiful birds, including this Lucerne Goldcollar. He's young. He's cool. He just calmly watched as I took his photo and cooed at him.

PRAYER with CROWS

"Prayer with Crows." North Hill, Puyallup, Washington.

RILKEAN HOARE

Detail of "Eider Duck," plate 246 of Birds of America, published 1827–1838, by John James Audubon.

---

"Perhaps it is those eyes. Yes, it's those eyes. It always is. They take in the whole of the world, even as they ignore it."

—page 39, RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR by Philip Hoare

---

"Animals see the open with their whole eyes."

"Or maybe an animal, incapable of speech, lifts its head / and quietly sees right through us."

—from "The Eighth Elegy" by Rainer Maria Rilke, as translated by Gary Miranda

RED HEN SUN

So much depends upon a red hen...

---

"Red Hen Sun" by Troy's Work Table. Indoor chalk art for Tuesday 10 January 2017.

Sidewalk chalk wash, sidewalk chalk, chalk pastels, and charcoal pencil on 12" x 12" concrete board.

METAL HEN

This old Polish hen is more metal than you!

---

At the Washington State Fair on Friday 09 September 2016.

GHOST CHICKEN

Ghost chicken materializes at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup.

CHICKENS GALORE!

I visited chicken friends at the Washington State Fair today. The great thing about the first day's admission being free before noon, my having the day off, and my family being unable to attend with me is that I can spend an hour in the poultry barn and just hang out with the various roosters and hens without any pressure to move along to another barn or another exhibit.

These were my ten favorite friends.


[1] Black Old English rooster.


[2] Brown-red Old English rooster.


[3] Barred Plymouth Rock rooster.


[4] Single-comb Rhode Island Red hen.


[5] White Orpington rooster.


[6] Silver spangled Hamburg rooster.


[7] Golden Phoenix rooster.


[8] Golden Sebright rooster.


[9] Silver Sebright rooster.


[10] Black-breasted red Modern Game hen.

---

My friend Dave reminded me of a quote by Warner Herzog: "Look into the eyes of a chicken and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic, and nightmarish creatures in the world."

I have to respectfully disagree, however, for I would rather hang out with a chicken than many members of my own species.

NAPOWRIMO #28: UNTITLED (SCENE)

For 2015's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is writing thirty poems in thirty days.

---

I don't even know what I'm trying to say in this poem any longer, although I think I did at one time. I need to let it go and let it roost for a bit and see if it's plumage changes.

---

All truth be told, I'm a bit worn out by all of this NaPoWriMo writing. I need some time to read and recharge. (I know that it's coming in a couple of days!)

---

UNTITLED (SCENE)

There is a silence
that can only be soothed
by the song of small birds—

Oregon juncos
jump about through
the protective leaves of salal

and azalea as they
search for castaway seeds
from the cockatiel’s cage—

a long-lost cousin
who watches them from
the kitchen window

commenting upon
their foraging and play—
longing to do likewise

but in the safety and security
of his cage.

His song does not sooth.

He does not hop.

He shuffles over wire bars
and newsprint

squawking

his pleasure at

mess-making

and gaining the attention

of both outdoor birds

and his person.

---

Copyright © 2015 by Troy's Work Table.

THE BURNING

"But the leechbook would later land me in such desperate straits that I will never again be able to return to society but am fated instead to sit here talking nonsense to birds."

—page 46, From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (and translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb).

+

"Yet although my body hair was not singed on their bonfire, I felt the heat of the animosity they bear toward me, the vindictive nature that drives a man to destroy his neighbor in a fire as if he were a banned book."

—page 47, From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (and translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb). 

DEFTLY PENNED

"You, bird, are the letter that was deftly penned during a quiet hour in the Lord's house, whereas I must endure having my image scored out or scraped off the vellum by those who envy and hate me."

—page 13, From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (and translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb).

SUSSEX SPECKLED

Sussex speckled hen.  Chicken barn at the Puyallup Fair.  Puyallup, Washington.  Friday 07 September 2012.

(I spent a lot of time in the chicken barn.)

RHODE ISLAND RED

Rhode Island Red rooster.  Chicken barn at the Puyallup Fair.  Puyallup, Washington.  Friday 07 September 2012.

FOG

One-hundred-twenty-second Avenue East, Edgewood, Washington.

Fog, seagulls, frost-covered moss covering a roof, chimney—the same as last year, December 01—less poetic, perhaps.

YESTERDAY'S ROOSTER

EVENING GROSBEAK (in the MORNING)

This guy and his lady friend have been showing up to our bird feeder the past few days. Although not quite as brilliantly yellow as the gold finches that normally visit, this grosbeak is stunning due to his yellow plumage, stunning blue-green beak, and his large (for a member of the finch family) size. He works hard at eating seeds and keeping the feeder free of smaller birds—house finches, purple finches, chickadees, and others—in order that he and his lady can enjoy their feast alone.

CORMORANT & GOLDENEYE

Pelagic cormorant and common goldeneye duck at Poulsbo Waterfront Park, Friday 11 March 2011.

CROWS

Our local trio of crows—Forethought, Afterthought, and Thought—arrived today for lunch, on schedule, as they do most Fridays and Saturdays.


[1] Forethought, the bravest of the three, sits on the powerline next to the black walnut tree, waiting for old bread crusts to be thrown out the front door.


[2] Forethought and Afterthought take scraps of bread to the small pool that forms at the end of the driveway after a good rain. This morning, it had just recently thawed when they began to use it to soften the bread.


[3] A squirrel races by, hoping to get one of the crows to drop his or her bread.


[4] Thought joins Forethought and Afterthought, as does the aforementioned squirrel.


[5] Symmetry.

SEAGULL TRINITY

The trinity peers down from the heavens, examining, watching the activity below ever carefully.

MURMURATION

The day begins as a murmuration of starlings gathers in the top of the tree, chattering to one another about the wind and wet.

ANGLES and SEAGULLS

Who knew the geometries of seagulls? Who knew their love of angles, their willingness to play at lines?

Here is the church, the rooftop, the steeple (just out of frame). Here is the congregation—quiet, still, reflective.