because her heart
Desirée, Trichoglossus haematodus, Green-Naped Rainbow Lorikeet,
a parrot smaller than a crow
because her heart is similar in shape to mine
is similar in construction to mine
because her heart beats 500 times a minute
pumps seven times more blood than mine
holding her in my hands her heartbeat
knocks against my palms gently as rain
because there are two pulmonary veins
because blood leaves her heart passes
three semi-lunar valves in the right aorta
and this reminds me of how seldom
she has seen the moon
because her red blood cells have
a nucleus and her white cells are
different from those of mammals
because if her sternum were
to be opened the honeycombed
appearance of her heart will
remind of bees whose work
of sweetness needs the freedom to fly
yet they are prisoners of the hive
because her left and right carotids
extend up into her neck
lie in a furrow along
the cervical vertebrae
because I don’t understand
what this means and because
her heart thumps the code
for a language I cannot fathom
she is like an alien come to earth
fragile as spring ice
because this trembling on my palms
because this trembling
Claudia Coutu Radmore is a writer and editor who writes prose, lyric poetry and Japanese-form poetry. For Arctic Twilight, Claudia edited letters from Leonard Budgell of The Hudson’s Bay Company, and wrote its introduction. See bluebutterflybooks.ca.
Beautiful poem and lovely integration of science with sensibility.
Claudia Coutu lightly brings life to meaning, and meaning to life, teasing out an improbably anatomy lesson of a parrot while skimming into the ether of connection between what is and what we seek to comprehend, even if only by feel, by feel of a pulse, by the pulse of another creature not in harmony with our rythmes, yet both sharing a higher harmony through the unifying mystery of colourful creatures who know how to fly and we earth-bound ones who can but stand in awe of their ability to be so free.
So happy to see Claudia’s work here. She is one of the most talented writers that I know and such an imagination!
interesting and marvelous twist on anatomy of a parrot… not your usual poetic theme, but then, Claudia is not your usual poet!
Brava!
Carol
Poetry Planet Blog is an unsual project put together by the League of Canadian Poets as a tribute to Canada for National Poetry Month 2009. The League has compiled the work of 60 Canadian poets from across Canada and posted them under the city and province from which the poet hails. The result is a stunning variety of poetry in all styles, well worth bookmarking for return trips. Especially read Because Her Heart by poet Claudia Coutu Radmore, listed under Carleton Place, ON, then dance around through the posts and get your fill of the world of Canadian poetry in 2009.