Today when doves

echo in soft matching notes

coo coo   coo coo

that is me, writing.

when the woodpecker

batters his head

into the same tree

until the hole

is big enough

to stuff his acorn

or the thrasher

standing king-like in the madrone

his crass notes a rasp in spring air

that is me, writing.

when the hummingbird

makes his sky circles

with the loud pop at the bottom

that’s my exclamation!

my despair, the red-shouldered hawk

sawing the sky in half

with his screams———

kee-yer   kee-yer  KEE-YER

when the loud scolds of jays

greedily push at the feeder

knocking seeds from the stand

and the faint treble of California quail

cluck in the underbrush

shy and tentative……   chicago  chicago chicago

and even the rip sound

of the perigrine pulling

feathers from his kill

discarding, and selecting

when the mocker, boisterress with longing

jumps from his branch

in acrobatic turnings

and the warblers query

witchita  witchita witchita which?

glitter-flashes of gold in the oaks

when the violet-green swallows,

chi veet chi veet, sew the sky back together 

wih their darts and swoops

we are flaunting

scolding and cooing

show offs, saying

look at me, look at me .                             

-Wendy Wilder Larsen

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA:

WOODPECKER

PERIGRINE

HUMMINGBIRD

QUAIL