chortle chortle chortle
deep in your pied throat
hop hop hop
then
tilt
to see the sideways world
thrust and grab
with your ochre scythe
toss
catch
swallow
tock tock tock
cackling success
in the game
then
flap flap flap
glide
flap flap flap
glide
back to the barracks
to the basics
to earth
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The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill is one of my favourite birds. Tockus leucomelas, it was named for the sound it makes, a loud and continuous “tock tock tock.” (I always imagined them to be saying “wok wok wok.”) I renamed the bird in the title this poem, because they I think they are hysterical. It is often affectionately called the “flying banana.” Our fate as a species is intricately tied to all other living things on our planet, including Tockus leucomelas.
little learner 