Birdwatching

Today I followed the sound
of a woodpecker to its source –
a dapper fellow in a red hat
and spotted jacket.
I’ve been hearing him for days,
rudely early in the morning,
but never thought to look.
I suppose I never would have,
if not for the sight of a bluebird
perched there in my front yard,
casual as a sack lunch.
I mean, if a shard of the day’s
perfect blue sky
is going to land along
my parched lawn and scruffy shrubs,
who knows what else
might be hanging about?

I confess I am not much
of a birdwatcher. I knew
it was a bluebird because
it was blue, and a woodpecker
because it was pecking wood.
Go figure. Still, it makes you think.
Why not watch for birds?
A person will go through life
looking for something.
Why not that flash of blue,
the very icon of happiness?

by Lynn Ungar

To listen to my recording of a woodpecker this past week click here.