Hi there! I wrote a little poem this evening about a cute little fantail I saw hopping around in my backyard this afternoon. The fantail is a bird native to New Zealand with a long tail which, you guessed it, they fan out like in the picture below.
Nature is a really useful prompt in creative writing that allows us to explore deeper themes by focusing on small things. In this poem, I focus on the flight of the fantail and the lack of utility of the washing line to draw into question ideas of purpose and permanence. The best way to approach big themes is to start small, and expand out, in my opinion.
I hope you enjoy the poem, if you do please give it a like, and feel free to share it. If you enjoy my writing, I have over 200 posts for you to explore, and you can follow me for notifications of new posts.
The fantail outside my window was unafraid;
he flitted from next-door’s fence
to our own unused laundry line,
where he sat for a moment on the tangled wires
of things whose purposes have been upset,
or lost, or simply
forgotten. He flew away,
leaving no trace of his presence
upon the earth.
A Teacup Full of Stories 