Nightingale by Kristina Woodhill You disturb my dreams still. You are too young to be a nightmare, surely if I walk back down that road I can approach you from a new angle. I can see your flashing smiles as youthful joy, not as hidden calculations monitoring our responses, touching just so gently our soft spots. Your patience and persistence, I must admire, our grooming by you; really, a new term for my tidy lexicon, a dirty little secret before blind eyes. Full disclosure only comes with time - not always in time. You plucked our feathers one by one, sweet nightmare Nightingale. You are the cowbird in our nest and I, the magpie, in full raucous voice unmask your probing, pushing beak in blazing light of day. 10/20/2008 Author's Note: Somehow seemed appropriate for this season, nightmares that won't die. Posted on 10/20/2008 Copyright © 2025 Kristina Woodhill Member Comments on this Poem Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 10/20/08 at 09:39 PM Hi Kristina. I like this very much. Feels mercurial, slightly ominous...and this is terrific, "I can see your flashing smiles as youthful joy,not as hidden calculations". A delight. Thanks. Posted by David Garner on 10/20/08 at 10:08 PM haunting ending. I love the words, "You are the cowbird in our nest". Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 10/21/08 at 12:47 AM Haunting indeed! Are these nightmares analogous to what is happening in wakeful time. There are nightmares we can dream away, there are nightmares that close in on us in real life! Posted by David Hill on 10/21/08 at 12:55 AM The nightingale is so tricky that the tricked still wonders if she was tricked. I do like a good bird poem, and this is first rate. Great phrases throughout. Cowbird simply sounds good, and “I can see your flashing smiles as youthful joy, not as hidden calculations,” is filled with doubt. Posted by Charlie Morgan on 10/21/08 at 04:04 PM ...kristina, i like all that the others like, mmm, am i the cowbird, you know cowbirds need love too, i love the sammmmmme line of which david and david and greg like, too much... Posted by Scott Utley on 10/24/08 at 03:13 AM You imagined for me beautiful night in Oregon and although you speak of nightmares, I am not scared. I wish I was there. I wish I was there. Return to the Previous Page   pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online All works Copyright © 2025 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)