Poems come and go.
Rhythms rise and fall.
A cardinal chirps and trills.
The oriole sputters and chants
melodic song.
We speak in varied tones
on impulse and
experience of the
day,
hour,
minute.
Like the warbler’s tune
changes from romance
to flight.
These are voices
all have to share—
speaking words of woe
or songs of grace.
Communication is all
encompassing to life –
growls and shrieks
of dog and fox,
hum of bumble bee flower lovers,
chatter of squirrels
guarding piles of seed,
a hawk’s call arousing fear,
“I love you” under the elm.
All speak a language
of sound and syllable.
Conveying feelings, defenses,
love and fear.
Listeners comprehend
the meaning –
each species understood
by their own, yet,
willing to decipher
the unfamiliar.
Speak, sing, tap
and roar,
clap, trill, snarl
and purr,
snort, squeal,
whinny and splash.
