Common Things

by Barbara Claridge

today

by the underpass

the jackdaw

jabs criss-cross

the openfield

square by square

like police finger tips

search long grass

juicy with sap

between silk stems

and butter cups

his grey helmet head

and thick neck

bobbing

bobby beating back and forth as

he struts

tips his head and listens for

leather jackets and slow worms and

stabs the soft ground

recent rain after

a dry april spell

sweetsmell wet grass as

i pass

under

Inspiration: I live very close to Southampton Common and every day during lockdown, before breakfast, my husband and I would cycle round and round the Common for permitted exercise. We liked to go early before there were too many people about. In May, when there were buttercups everywhere, I noticed the behaviour of several jackdaws which strutted about like policemen in helmets and worked on the image as I rode home.

Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay.