Birding in a Violent Time

by David Chorlton / August 21st, 2016

The first one was a flash
of red and green.
That was years ago
and each time afterwards
was just as bright.
So much has happened
since: insurrections,
war, somebody so desperate
to be heard he fired
a hundred rounds.
And always the news
broadcast during
a drive to quiet sycamores
until listening
made no difference. Trogon.
Chat. An unarmed man
shot dead. Phoebe.
Sniper attack.
Beardless-Tyrannulet. Heron.
Hawks circling above
the rough asymmetrical
mountain ranges. Wide
open space in a concealed
carry world. Yellowthroat.
Kingbird. Syria.
Iraq. Dallas. Cuckoo. Shock
becomes too common
to be shocking. Listen:
sunlight in the trees
turns into song and chatter.

David Chorlton has lived in Phoenix since 1978. He grew up in England with watching soccer as a major part of life although he has managed to move on to other interests since then, including reading and writing poetry. Read other articles by David.

This article was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2016 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.