Desert Larks
on Sheila Ash (India), 13/Mar/2017 08:57, 34 days ago
Please note this is a cached copy of the post and will not include pictures etc. Please click here to view in original context.

Two balls of dusky camouflagelost to their playful scurryI am in no hurryto riseto disturb these twin juvenile desert larksrolling and cavorting in the dawn lighttheir trills crescendo into my wake up choir.The frenzied fluster of flapping wingstickles my nostril.I am still,fossilised,except for watering eyesfrom my smothered sneezestifled into my own down.They dance and playoblivious to my awakening.Not threatening,I liewatching in wonder and aweexpecting the breeze to rustle themoff into the distant dunes.Two balls of feathered ancestryas ancient as pharaohsas fluffy as the angora bolerosof my childhoodfull of comfort and warmth.the birds’ sand bath grains riselike the sparks of last night’s fire.© Sheila Ash, 13thMarch 2017Note: I think these were Ammomanes deserti whitakeri, the South Algerian desert lark. One morning in the Sahara I woke up to a pair only six inches from my nose.ashramblings