Have you ever noticed how
the birds sing as if they know all the answers – 
in the morning before the world turns on the lights
and 
in the evening as they soothe us into night. 

You can set your watch by it.

Once before, 
I quipped in a poem
that I wished I spoke “bird” 
so that I could know, too. 
Now,
I am different
and 
I wonder: 
When did the change take place? 

For,
I no longer wish 
to know the language of the birds.
Now, 
it is a comfort just to listen – 
to know that they know.
In that
there is clarity - 
if only for a moment.


*With thanks for the poem, “It’s important that I get this down now.” By Paul E. Clark