Distelfink – A Poem

The translation for “distelfink” is literally thistle finch. This stylized bird of Pennysylvania folk art is a symbol of good luck and happiness. The Public Domain Review has a good article here about Fraktur folk art and the distelfink’s role in it.

More of my ekphrastic poetry here. More on the rimas dissolutas here.

Distelfink

I draw you a red dress. Make you harvest.
Your basket I fill with melons and grapes
to fill our bellies, our old happy home –
a lucky distelfink, to oversee.
The goldfinch is the colours of the rose.

I am mother again. You, a child. Blessed
by fertile pastures in rolling landscapes.
No need for a mother to feel alone,
with a girl and goldfinch for company.
I’ll draw you my salad with tomatoes.

I come to you when the hour is darkest.
When every last scrap has been scraped.
I’ll give you a dessert of honeycomb.
For the goldfinch – thistle-down, thistle-seed.
Together, we navigate my sorrow.

©elsp2026