A Wing and a Prayer

We thought the birds were singing louder. We were almost certain they

were. We spoke of this, when we spoke, if we spoke, on our zoom screens

or in the backyard with our podfolk. Dang, you hear those birds? Don’t

they sound loud? We shouted to the neighbor, and from behind her mask

she agreed. The birds are louder this spring. This summer. I’ve never

heard such loud birds. Listen to ’em sing. But the birds aren’t singing

louder. In fact, the opposite. Ornithologists have recorded lowered

decibel levels of bird song. In the absence of noise pollution—our planes

overhead, our cars rushing past with their motors and horns, our bars

leaking music onto the street corners—the birds don’t need to shout.

So why are we hearing birdsong now, when it is quieter? Because we

need it more. Poetry in the pandemic: birdsong that was there all along.