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Monday 9 May 2011

The Flamingos


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American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), National Zoo, Washington, D.C.: photo by Stevehdc, 2007



The elegance of the dance enchanted the comic in him.
And thereat the flamingos, standing
Upon one leg, cared not whether it was right or left,
But preferred to rest with heads on one side more

Than the other; the side on which a flamingo rests
Its head determines how aggressive it is
Toward the others in the flock. This fact was
Contained in his vigilant anthology.

Yes, but in his dreams... the old question,
Not whether they prefer the one leg or the other,
But why they stand on one leg at all, haunted
The colonist. To him, in his aethereal projections,

This sort of thing seemed part of the greater
Comedy, the comedy of the ordering
Of things. Could the flamingos have told him
The answer to this as to the many other wonderings,

In those dreams, he wondered, had he simply asked?





James's Flamingos (Phoenicopterus jamesi), Laguna Colorada, Bolivia: photo by Valdiney Pimenta, 20 August 2007

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Lesser Flamingos (Phenicopterus minor), Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania: photo by Charles J. Sharp, 2004

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Lesser Flamingos (Phenicopterus minor), Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania: photo by Charles J. Sharp, 2004

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Lesser Flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor), Lake Nakuru, Kenya: photo by Jerzy Strzelecki, 1996

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Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus): photo by Johan H. Koeslag, 2008

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Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), after taking off, Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

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Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), after taking off, Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

File:Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) after taking off W  IMG 9857.jpg

Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), after taking off, Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

File:Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) in flight W IMG  0081.jpg

Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), in flight, Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

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Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), landing, Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Greater_Flamingoes_%28Phoenicopterus_roseus%29_W2_IMG_0072.jpg

Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), Pocaram Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2008

5 comments:

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

Ah, "the ordering of things" -- such balance, what flight. . . .


5.9

planet rising above still black shoulder
of ridge, blackness of branches in right
foreground, no sound of waves in channel

projection of past, in fact
of what in retrospect

“is,” painting not only but
that, now being found

whiteness of cloud to the left of point,
sunlit green of pine on tip of sandspit

ACravan said...

I love the way the lines you’ve written seem to shift and move around in something that’s close to flamingo motion. Thank heavens you chose a large, rangy bird; if you’d written a parakeet poem along similar lines, it might induce some sort of non-delirium tremens. I love the last question also, which is something that excites the mind of anyone who has tried to get inside a bird’s head. (That isn’t everybody, you know.) I’ve had similar thoughts in and about dreams, but then, of course, I wake up. Jane rigged Caroline’s at-death’s-door Mac up to speak all of the commands and prompts it receives. Caroline finds the computer voice amusing, but for Flip and Skip, the parakeets, the talking Mac is another friend in the room and there are definitely signs of a relationship existing. (It’s great when the computer says “I’m Bu-sy” in a slightly irritated tone; that and the military march music Caroline sometimes plays to them really gets them going.) The photographs are incredibly beautiful and it is marvelous to see these ancient creatures in the wild. A long time ago, we made many visits to Ardastra Gardens in Nassau, the Bahamas, which is home to a famous group of Marching Flamingos. They seemed resigned to their lot in life, but there was a definite showbiz fatigue about them that these birds don’t display. Which anthology, by the way? Curtis

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

in his aetherial projections --

Greater Flamingos . . . after taking off. . .

Greater Flamingos . . . after taking off. . .

Greater Flamingos . . . after taking off. . .

Greater Flamingos . . . in flight. . .

Greater Flamingos . . . landing. . .

(As Curtis says, "incredibly beautiful . . . marvelous to see. . . .")

5.10

light coming into sky above still black
ridge, two planets rising beside branch
in foreground, wave sounding in channel

takes place in the interior,
that is in order that

it does not, for the viewer,
in front of a picture

cloudless blue sky reflected in channel,
shadowed green canyon of ridge above it

TC said...

Curtis,

Your house sounds a very noisy, or shall one say musical place.

Without much chance of ever seeing a flamingo, one leaps at the thought of... being one. If only for a moment.

That vigilant anthology of facts appears to have existed only inside the colonist's head, forever causing that itch which can't be scratched.



Steve, the picture of that tranquil flock of Lesser Flamingos on Lake Nakuru, Kenya made me think of some lovely photos of pelicans gathering on "your" lagoon (with "shadowed green canyon of ridge above"), discovered some time ago on Bea Murch's Flickr page.

ACravan said...

The flamingos we've seen most often recently live at the Cape May Zoo and were a gift to the zoo from.......Michael Jackson. They were formerly the Neverland flamingos. Now they're living in comfortable retirement at the Jersey shore after what must have been an unusual period. The parakeets are, in fact, very musical (like their '50s musical namesakes). Whenever I've had to drive them somewhere (down to PA originally; on several ultra-bizarre trips to the avian vet), they sing along enthusiastically with the radio. As a highly allergic person, I know all about itches that can't be scratched. Curtis