Birdsong

by Elliot Sloan

A new kind of bird has come to live in Minnesota
It is recognizable by its song
Earsplitting and shrill
Urgent
Persistent
It erupts in chorus on street corners, in churches, in schools
It drifts in through our open windows at all hours of the day and night
It haunts our dreams

A new kind of bird has come to live in Minnesota
It is recognizable by its song
But not by its color or markings
We can never be sure if the bird before us a sparrow or a hawk
A neighborhood black bird, or a carrion crow
They are cloaked in deceit
They hide their faces
But they cannot hide their song

Birdsong like a rallying cry, like a threat
It raises the hairs on the backs of our necks
It brings neighbors outside to protect each other
And to witness when protection fails
Birdsong like a harbinger
Something must end
We pray to the other birds that it will not be us

A new kind of bird has come to live in Minnesota
It is recognizable by its song
We choose to believe that it heralds its own undoing
Earsplitting and shrill
One day it will haunt only our memories
May we be like the hawk, and tear out its vocal chords
May the sparrow sing again in its place
May the carrion crow strip the flesh from its bones
May the neighborhood blackbirds collect our forgotten whistles
And add them to their collections of useless shiny things