Birds’ Songs @2016/11/05
My ancestors once told me
there is a Life Tree in the East
where birds ceaselessly sing.
I’ve long forgotten it
or lost faith in it.
Sitting beside my screen,
to forge a bird’s song,
a button is what I click.
Yet the humming from this magic
fails to bring the story back.
This morning, into the Red Trail
which Native People once traversed,
I pause at birds’ signs and tiny feeders.
Colorful and beautiful in still poses,
each teaches me a name:
American Goldfinch,
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
Blue Jay, Cardinal,
Scarlet Tanager, Red-tailed Thrush,
and Yellow Warbler…
“Morning, little birds”
I call out,
my eyes searching into the deep.
Among lush leaves,
I cannot trace their flight.
But I hear
song after song,
full of joy,
full of freedom,
burst from them
burst from myself.
“Morning, little birds”…
a whole world of wonders
we sing to each other.
(Thanks to the Earth Market Mississauga team and sponsors)