It Could Also Whisper by Amy Beeder

A Guide to Bird Songs, Aretas A. Saunders: 1935

Dear Reader―
There are dimples on the flyleaf where you signed
so hard you nearly tore it & a tiny ochre beetle
sealed evermore beside a Towhee’s tank yo tee hee tee.
In that Braille I thought Disaffection. In the spine’s
grit Blackstorm Dust―

You ask, Aretas,
if the watcher’s right in counting on the list a bird they’ve heard
but never seen. Does my constant song count, if muttered
only under breath? What notes did you seek in pine
& willow thicket, what tik, what vivid downward slur?

Catbird, Thief.
But then song comes to you all day, easy. Impulse, rumor,
stolen phrases. Know a glittered tongue does not excuse you.
One who had this power mimicked sixteen other species
& a tree toad. It could also whisper.

Catbird, Author―
You thought, you thought! You thought to try for emphasis
with repetition or by switching pitch, when all you needed
was a trill at most. Where’s your ear? Will you agree at
least to keep, when flying through the winter, wisely silent?

From: https://pleiadesmag.com/featured-poem-amy-beeder/

Date: 2022

By: Amy Beeder (1964- )

Tags: 2022, amy beeder, dear reader, it could also whisper