The Kingfisher
by Mark Tredinnick
For Maureen Harris
And so each bird throws the idea of herself
ahead of herself, up the river—
A line of spiritual thought without a sinker—
And flies after it. As if the actual could ever hope to reel the ideal in. But so it is
That awareness of the azure kingfisher—a dark electricity, a plump
Trim elegance of intent—reaches you on the riverbank
that last warm Sunday of autumn, split seconds
Before the bird; so that when she passes you at light speed, her name
is already a bright blue phrase on your tongue, is already
the unresolved cadence of your second self.
Mark Tredinnick is an award-winning Australian poet, is the author of Fire Diary, The Blue Plateau, The Little Red Writing Book, and eight other works of poetry and prose. Mark lives, writes and teaches along the Wingecarribee River, southwest of Sydney. The Lyrebird (2011) is his most recent book of poems, and a new collection (Body Copy) will appear in 2012.