[Editor: This poem by C. J. Dennis was published in The Singing Garden (1935).]
The Crimson Parrot
In the quiet noonday heat
Creeping high aloft
Nimbly, on prehensile feet,
Calling very soft;
Else, among the seeding grass,
Feeding by a tree
Where the soft cloud shadows pass
Not more silently.
Now, with shrill and sudden din,
Swift, as danger comes,
Flashing like a javelin
Past the sunlit gums;
Rocketing thro’ inlaced limbs,
A living, darting flame;
While, above, the brown hawk skims
Avid for his game.
Forest dweller, crimson clad,
Bright bird of the sun;
When the winter days grow sad
And the seeds are done,
Where the lonely farm-house stands
Cautiously come I
And about your harvest lands
Pause a while to spy.
Prove you kindly in the end,
Haply I shall stay;
And you have me for a friend
Thro’ the winter day.
Toddling round the garden bed,
Swaggering thro’ the grass,
Lifting up a crimson head
To watch you as you pass.
Source:
C. J. Dennis, The Singing Garden, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1935, pages 125-126
Editor’s notes:
din = a loud unpleasant noise which continues for a significant amount of time
haply = by accident, by chance, or by luck
The Institute of Australian Culture
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