Lynda Turbet

Norfolk, UK

 

Lynda Turbet lives with MND in rural Norfolk. Her poems have appeared in anthologies, and have been published in online and print journals.

Poem written Easter 2020

 

 
Cockerel 

 

Easter 2020

 

Weathercock

cock of the midden

cock of the walk

cocksure rooster

this farmyard Jagger

neck stretched

struts and thrusts

shakes comb and wattle

crows conquests by the hour;

wives jostle for his eye

preen, croon seduction

choose me, choose me.

 

The wind blows:

Chaucer’s Chanticleer

sleek-feathered herald

(gules / sable / vert)

sun-burnished braggart

undone by vanity; or

spins to darkest pagan gods

hot blood sacrificed

black in secret signs.

 

Your voice is lovers parting,

homing spirits, broken spells;

today, your bugle sounds betrayal

over quiet fields; silent bells

wait for release, their salleys looped

in dusty towers. Starved souls

denied their celebration,

must be content with you,

joyful, ringing in the morning.