The Experience of Birds in the City (a poem)

A crow flying in front of the Mexico City skyline; Photo by Luis Dominguez

The westward walk in the morning

the sight of gulls remind me I live nearby a big river.

I like hearing the crows because I think of landscapes just outside the city.

Suddenly many, many crows

a roost, but where?

I like watching robins in the park because I don't have a backyard.

I enjoy the soaring of the Red-tailed Hawk whose specific epithet links to my childhood

The aerial conflict between the hawk and kestrel outside my window wilds the sky.

I smile at the squawk of the Blue Jay because I slow to look up and around.

The tin vocalizations of the starlings are preferred to the overwhelm of the din of urban noises.

Titmouse and juncos make me think of snow

These adorable birds are here and it hasn't yet snowed.

I am soothed by the song of the White-throated Sparrow.

Churr, a flight of red, and black and white

for sure a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Another but different red

the House Finch are here.

Mewling--a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker or a catbird? Then,

drilling

definitely a sapsucker.