Winter Birds

A seagull lands on the ice,

he slips, staggers for a moment, then calmly walks along.

Jackdaws in the snow,

blacker than black, as if

they’ve become crows.

Along the bare branch

the wren is looking for

what is no longer there.

Geese in flight,

an arrow that descends

wherever there is water still.

Floating in the ice-hole

perhaps the birds are thinking

of warm feet.

Swarming seagulls.

They climb, descend and ask:

where is Roland Holst?

Between the swarms

of ducks, grouse, coots, jackdaw and gulls

suddenly two swans.

Coots leave tracks

on melting snow.

They write the verdict of the thaw.

Now the snow is fading

black birds are pecking

in the regained earth.

Spring Birds

A seagull fights with a heron.

The seagull dives, cries; heron ducks, bites.

Wing versus beak.

The nest is slowly growing,

branches sprouting from the water.

The coot is already on the nest.

Geese on the lake

are on their way, but where to?

They don't know.

The moorhen bolts away,

the coot remains, deliberating

until I come near to it.

The Cormorant is lost,

is searching for open waters

in a ditch in Leiderdorp.

Summer Birds

Slowly it dies away,

the song of the songbirds.

A crow is still screeching.

The last coots

are still fiddling with their nests,

hoping to increase.

Birds become fat

when the youngsters fly away

and they are free again.

Wherever the birds have been

the plants proliferate

until the fall.

I remain silent and wait to see

whether the autumn brings new life

before the winter season.

I see a magpie

he stumbles, flies into a bush.

He's scared of me.

Chirping girls

hopping in the rain

and teasing each other.

In the last movement

a continuo ticks in:

the end will follow soon.

Autumn Birds

An old bird stared

at the world for a long time

but became no wiser.

Migratory birds are coming

for a moment, are quickly gone again, just like us.

Winged time:

a swallow always on the way,

there is no end point.

A shaft of sunlight shoots through

the morning mist and

lights on diving gulls.