Bird Talk

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for bird sounds—
insistent tapping of woodpeckers,
frantic flapping of ducks in flight,
singular calls of hawks,
and plural chatter of a hundred starlings.

Blessed are You
for chirps and caws,
clicks and buzzes,
delicate arias
and raspy complaints,
whistles and trills,
quacks and tweets,
and a thousand more sounds
that don’t translate well into English.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for songbirds who welcome the sun,
and owls who bid it farewell,
hens who announce their eggs
with victorious squawks,
and geese overhead
heralding a turn of the seasons.
These feathered noisemakers
with dinosaur toes
bless me with all their bird talk.