A Wake of Buzzards

Words: Paula Bolton; Music: Tarquin Bolton A Wake of Buzzards Six buzzards circle through infinite blue All the while keening their sky-piercing cry Harried by crows they rise up, unhurried Feather tip lifted and talons tucked high Gazing above to where birds freely fly You and I see only emptiness there No shape, no colour, no form and no taste  Silent, untouchable, featureless waste Consider the sky as an ocean of air Alive with the motion of currents and streams Where birds swoop and dive, snatching prey from the deep Or surf the soft breezes and drift half-asleep A tail for a rudder and wings for a sail The beak as a figurehead cleaving the gale Bound to dry land we stand wistfully watching Our bones are too heavy, feet rooted in clay Grounded on earth the poor body fears falling Six buzzards soar away, each to each calling A wake of buzzards A buzzard awake No wake for a buzzard that hovers on high No wake for a buzzard that takes to the sky  A wake of buzzards A buzzard awake ©2024 Paula wrote this and it works as a standalone poem; you might want to just read it first, or not bother listening at all! I think it’s her best so far. Writing the tune took a while to get going but it then came together quite quickly once I had the first six notes. I’m using the wenge backed guitar I finished last year which is currently my favourite. The title plays on the multiple meanings of “wake”, starting with the collective noun for a group of buzzards. NOTE FOR MY US FRIENDS: this is the Common Buzzard which is a large hawk, not a vulture. Many thanks to our good friend Laurie Burn for the lovely photos. The buzzard video is copyright free from Pixabay.