Absurd Bird
This absurd bird
has its beak on its bottom
and one swivel eye
on the crown of its head
one wing faces forward
and one faces back
so it always ends up
flying circles instead.
Its feathers aren’t soft
they’re metallic and shiny
its chirp is not chirpy
it’s nasal and whiney
this bird is so scary
but now I can see
it only takes flight
if you wind up the key.
has its beak on its bottom
and one swivel eye
on the crown of its head
one wing faces forward
and one faces back
so it always ends up
flying circles instead.
Its feathers aren’t soft
they’re metallic and shiny
its chirp is not chirpy
it’s nasal and whiney
this bird is so scary
but now I can see
it only takes flight
if you wind up the key.
This poem is copyright (©) Melinda Szymanik 2025
About the Writer
Melinda Szymanik
Melinda is an award-winning New Zealand author of picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults. Notable titles include The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008) winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013) winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle (Scholastic, 2016) a 2017 White Raven selection. She also writes poetry for adults and children, and regularly teaches creative writing.
