I hear a distant chainsaw
But I am in the woods
Is it a beehive in the vines?
I hear a far-off car alarm
Or is it birdsong?
I hear a creaking door
Or are those tree frogs?
I hear a hundred hurried tires
Or is it water rushing?
I hear a mower mowing
Or is it a coming devastation of locusts?
I hear a drill drilling
Or is it beasts stampeding?
Or is it rocks cascading?
Or is it thunder rolling?
I hear a plane overhead
Or is it the last dragon roaring?
I see a mockingbird!
Oh.
Is that all I ever heard?
Recently, I heard a hawk near our chicken yard. I heard him again and again, but could not spot him. Then I saw the mockingbird and my worrying turned to grinning. I have watched mockingbirds flutter from tree to tree chirping like crickets, screeching like the railway, cooing like pigeons, beeping like crosswalks, mimicking one creature or contraption after another in quick succession.
