Kookaburra by Douglas Alexander Stewart at Old Poetry

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I see we have undervalued the kookaburra;
they think they are waking the world, and I think so too.
They gobble the night in their throats like purple berries,
they plunge their beaks in the tide of darkness and dew
and fish up long rays of light; no wonder now they howl
In such triumph of trumpets, leaves fall from the trees,
small birds fly backwards, snakes disappear into a hole.
All day long they will rule the bush as they please.
Perched on high branches, one eye cocked for the snake,
from treetop to treetop they watch the sun and follow it;
far in the west they take it in that great beak
and bang it against a bluegum branch and swallow it;
then nothing is left in the world but the kookaburras
like waterfalls exulting down from the gullies.

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mermaid7
October 7, 2006
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Quite a "tribute" to the Kookbaurra. I love how the birds "gobble the night in their throats like purple berries" with relish and then perform their sounds and their search for snakes with absolute passion. The twist at the end is cleverly delivered, and leaves the reader laughing. I suppose those that have the pleasure of seeing and knowing of these birds get an extra laugh from this poem.
- rufina caraid
  October 7, 2006
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  I'm pleased you enjoyed this. It wasn't until I read your comment mermaid that I realised the title was spelled incorrectly and I do believe I was the culprit.
  Their call more than their image is an Australian Icon and although I love them, it's no fun when they sit outside the bedroom window at 4.30 on a summer's morning proclaiming their territory, but I have to admit it - I would miss them so much if they were not around my garden, especially when digging in the vegetable patch waiting for tasty morsels to beat upon the nearest tree branch.
  Von