Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Wrigley’s "Nuthatch Sitting on a Bear’s Nose" is a contemplative exploration of perception, art, and the connections between life and death, woven through a tapestry of quiet humor and poignant reflection. By juxtaposing a nuthatch’s interaction with a cast iron bear and a visit to a family grave, Wrigley bridges the mundane and the profound, suggesting that even the smallest actions and observations carry layers of meaning.

The poem begins with an unassuming scene: a cast iron bear’s head, designed as a bottle opener, becomes a perch for a nuthatch. Wrigley immediately sets the tone with a playful yet thoughtful acknowledgment of the object’s artifice: "Really just a small cast iron representation / of the latter." The bird’s choice to alight on this unlikely object—"nothing to be stood upon, not even by a bird, / except for the nugget of ice at the end of the snout"—introduces a theme of serendipity and the intersection of the natural and the fabricated. The bear, a human creation, becomes part of the nuthatch’s world, its utility as a bottle opener rendered irrelevant by the bird’s presence.

Wrigley extends this meditation on art and nature through an anecdote about a chainsaw sculpture of an eagle: "Some think art is lost / on the beasts of field and forest. Not I." The humor in the coyote’s critical engagement—"sniffed at at length before the coyote / lifted his leg and joined the ranks of the critical establishment"—is balanced by a recognition of the ways in which human creations enter the non-human world. Similarly, the "badly mounted bull moose head" evokes both absurdity and empathy as it becomes an object of puzzlement for a cow and calf. These moments highlight the porous boundaries between human and animal perspectives, as well as the often unintentional ways in which human artifacts are recontextualized by nature.

The poem transitions to a more personal and poignant memory: a visit to the narrator’s uncle’s grave with his father. The scene begins with a striking image of a young woman "sitting on the stone and singing, we thought at first." This misinterpretation—corrected when they realize she is speaking to someone buried nearby—echoes the earlier moments of miscommunication or reinterpretation between human and non-human encounters. The woman’s private moment of mourning or connection becomes an intrusion for the narrator and his father, who "Keep on walking" to avoid disturbing her. The shared understanding between the father and son, conveyed through whispered words and silence, underscores the intimacy of their own experience.

As the poem moves deeper into the cemetery, the narrator and his father reflect on the monuments they encounter, ranging from the "simple" to the "gaudy and foolish." The father’s wry observation—"?once stiff just like another.? / Then he said, ?No, that’s probably not true.?"—captures the blend of humor, skepticism, and reverence that characterizes much of the poem. The father’s correction introduces a moment of ambiguity, as though acknowledging the individuality of those buried while also recognizing the futility of fully capturing a life through symbols and words.

The return to silence and the nuthatch’s departure—"just as a moment ago, when I turned / to see the nuthatch had also flown"—creates a circular structure, tying the ephemeral presence of the bird to the fleeting nature of life and memory. The bird’s "mournful, repetitive song" becomes a metaphor for the persistence of grief and remembrance, while its flight suggests the inevitability of change and loss.

Wrigley’s free verse form allows the poem to meander naturally, mirroring the wandering thoughts and movements of its speaker. The language is conversational yet precise, balancing humor and gravity with ease. The interplay of the whimsical and the somber reflects the poem’s central tension between the permanence of death and the transitory moments of life.

"Nuthatch Sitting on a Bear’s Nose" is a meditation on the intersections of art, nature, and memory. Through its richly detailed observations and layered reflections, Robert Wrigley invites readers to consider the ways in which we assign meaning to objects, actions, and experiences—whether in the everyday interactions of a bird and a bear or in the profound silences of a cemetery. The poem resonates as a reminder of the beauty and fragility of connection, both human and non-human, and the quiet significance of the moments we choose to notice.

Copyright (c) 2025 PoetryExplorer

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...