Unbounded Air

This collection of poems aims to introduce the reader to the richness of birds and the need to care for their world. The poems bring to life their beauty, their song and the intriguing and sometimes funny behaviours as well as their remarkable skills, especially in nest building. 

The poems are presented in a loose semblance of order beginning with the signifier poem, “Unbounded Air,” followed by the shorebird poems noting the urgent need to address their threatened habitat. This environmental theme continues in many of the poems. 

When we are more attentive, we see birds in all environments. Travel gives opportunities for fresh discoveries, particularly in Australia’s distinctly different environments. A number of poems reflect this happenstance. Yet, it is at home in our gardens, nearby parks and waterways where we really see birds up close. Many of the later poems represent the richness and diversity that surrounds us if we take time in our own patch. The final poem, “A Murmuration of Birds,” focuses on the awe and wonder of seeing huge numbers of birds in the magic of synchronised flight. 

A close connection with birds can be transformative. The same occurs when we allow ourselves to be emerged in poetry, to take the time, to read closely and allow our thoughts to move to a new knowing.

Surrounded daily by birds, a poet sits down to write. The effect of these poems is as calming, joyful and uplift ing as it is when we watch birds ourselves. Rainforest birds are particularly beautiful and these poems about them, and other birds, are also. Whether you mean to or not, when you write, you reveal yourself and here the nature poet reveals herself as Mary Oliver and Gerard Manly Hopkins and all those other poets of their ilk do too; which is why we treasure them.

– Kate Llewellyn, award-winning Australian poet

Unbounded Air gives a fascinating insight into the secret lives of wild birds. Fitzgerald introduces us to the dear familiar birds who visit her mountain garden, and to shore birds, eagles, robins, currawongs and other winged creatures she has encountered in the parks, waterways and in her travels. h ese beautiful, funny, sad poems will soar into your imagination and stay there forever.

– Sandra Hogan, author of With My Little Eye

These beautiful poems wash with colour, beat like wings, soar with song. For Fitzgerald, nature is a language, and noticing a sixth sense.

– Kristina Olsson, author of Boy Lost: a Family Memoir