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Five Dappled Things
A weave of twigs
upon the ground;
five eggs, cream white,
flecked with gray.
An ark dislodged
—a callous jay
or heartless wind—
the nest set down.
A slant of sun,
an ark of twigs.
a future vanishing.
Five dappled things
upon the ground.
.
.
Leland James is the author of six poetry collections and five children’s books in verse. He has published over 300 poems in venues worldwide, including The Lyric, Rattle, and London Magazine. He has received over a dozen international poetry awards, been featured in American Life in Poetry, Poetry Foundation, and was nominated for a Push Cart Prize. He also writes award-winning fiction. His novel, EnWorld, An Encapsulated Future, published by River Grove Books, was released on June 28, 2025. lelandjames.com
I love this, Leland. Despite its brevity it repays repeated readings. It’s concise, controlled, and ultimately moving; a perfect distillation which forces the reader to confront the tragedy of an everyday event in the natural world. True poetry.
I really like this. It’s a masterpiece of concise description with a subtle meaning behind it.
Your poem captures the delicate fragility of the nest and eggs. The still life painting is a beautiful accompaniment and accent for the poem.
This is refreshing and sorrowful and when something is both those things at once it has to be poetry. Or one of very few other things, such as music by the likes of Mozart. It reminds me that I have a heart and a soul and that I’m not the only one.
I wrote it out in my commonplace book and then went back and also entered “Bend in the River” and “Against All Earthly Fire.” There is a kind of wordplay that belongs to lyric poetry, to lyric alone, and it shines, with its defining sweetness, in your poems.
Martin put it beautifully. This is a lovely poem and bears re-reading.
Thanks to all for your kind words. Heartening.
Leland James
The poem’s simplicity conveys a great depth of meaning.
Thanks for the read, Leland.