Page 5 - Reflectoem Magazine Issue 07

BIRDER

John Grey

Australian poet, US resident

You know the birds

by sight,

can even tell the female

from the male.

And when

they’re singing,

you’re a music expert:

that’s a tanager etude,

there’s a pine warbler concerto.

Not just the trills

but the meanings –

the titmouse is

desperate for a mate,

the field sparrow

dangles the words in front of you:

all’s right with the world.

You are commonly called

a birder.

But I have you figured for a bird.

You practice you calls

and the woods respond.

The birds seem to agree with me.