This week I was fortunate enough to participate in part of the Poetry Foundation’s annual workshop for teachers. To say that this experience was inspiring is an understatement. I’m still processing the multitude of ideas, wisdom, and poems shared by the presenters. My initial reaction to the incredible poets who presented was “thank you!” Thank you for voicing so clearly what I sometimes have trouble articulating: That poetry is not a luxury, that poetry is full of all the feelings, and that, in the words of Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz, we should all ‘’be deliberate about seeking joy.”
Later, while “seeking joy” in my backyard, I noticed two goldfinches flitting in and out of the branches of our cherry tree. Goldfinches truly do bring me joy. I’ve written at least twice about their merry-making. (Here and here) In that moment, in the words of musician Mic Jordan, their “music [was] medicine” to me, medicine worthy of celebration.
High in sun-spangled
treetops,
chitter-chattering goldfinches
bestow their poem
to the world.
Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2022
Please be sure to visit Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading for the Poetry Friday Roundup. Bushels of poetic joy await!
Reading to the Core 
“Chitter-chattering” is the perfect description of goldfinch song! I distinctly remember the very first time I saw a goldfinch here in Ohio (we didn’t have them in Colorado; I never saw them in Dallas). It was magical. Now they come to my garden and ride the spent coneflowers eating seeds. More magic!
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Oh, lovely, Catherine! Goldfinches are one of my favorites. I love how they’re here year-round yet change in appearance so dramatically. The arrival of their golden plumage always feels like a gift in the spring.
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How wonderful! I’m so glad you caught that joy and then shared it with us! I’m feeling it.
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I did that workshop last year and the year before. So rich with information and love for poetry. I love that your goldfinches bring you joy.
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Oh I love thinking about goldfinches as poets.
I was able to go to a couple of sessions for the Teacher Institute. What a delight!
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Oh I love that “chitter-chattering” is bestowed! Definitely evokes the joy you receive from the gift.
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