BLACKBIRD IN THE EARLY MORNING
 

Sings at the top of the bare-branched tree
an aubade to morning
welcomes the light,
early spring, season of nest-making.

This melody is not for me
but to attract a mate.
I walk the dog under the dulcet notes
and think he sings for me.

Blackbird on the verge
gathers small sticks in his orange beak,
lifts into the sky where
tree branches hold shapes of air.

Blackbird tugging worms out of grass
to feed his young,
always singing even at night
falling notes of: keep away, keep away.

Sue Moules has been published in New Welsh Review, Planet, Poetry Wales, and Ambit. She also has poems included in the International Women’s Day anthology (Welsh Women’s Coalition 2010), By Ways Anthology (Arachne ) 2024, and Words on Troubled Waters (Lutra Press) 2024. Her poem ‘Walking the Whippet’ was chosen for Brighton and Hove Poems on the Buses (2024). Her most recent collection is The Moth Box (Parthian).