‘Blackbird’ by Fokkina McDonnell

 
There’s a blackbird on the wooden fence.
It looks left, then right,
stretches up and its yellow beak plucks
an orange berry from the pyracantha.

It looks left, then right,
another berry, and one more.
It flies off.

My caravan at Birch Path 41
has been my home since March.
The pyracantha, planted eight years ago,
reaches into the garden behind
and up into the golden elm.

I am inside my caravan, standing still,
a glass in my hand, humming
…singing in the dead of night…
I am content when the blackbird
returns. Left, right, small berry.

 
 
 
Fokkina McDonnell has published two full collections Nothing serious, nothing dangerous (Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2019) and Another life (Oversteps Books, 2016) and a pamphlet A Stolen Hour (Grey Hen Press, 2020). In 2020 she received a Northern Writers’ Award from New Writing North, judged by Vahni Capildeo. Twitter @FokkinaM.