I am lost in Bristol one night
and I stop to consider birdsong
pouring like bright confetti
from a black and leafless tree
in a canyon of offices
it is like a miracle
so loud I wonder
if it is a recording
some sound-art project
to bring hope in winter
I do not know the song
perhaps it is tropical
a love bird or parakeet
lost
or maybe just a robin or starling
making Mardi Gras
declaring the tree its home
so loud I beam
at the chutzpah
of this blaring bird
want to share my baffled joy
and I turn
smile
begin to speak
to a woman bundled
in an admirable coat
surely she will pause too
smile
even identify the song
which she must enjoy
every evening
leaving work
but she diverts
around me
and I see the shiny ear pods
the quickened stride
like all the others
Heidi Beck emigrated to the UK from the USA in 1998 and now lives in Bristol. She has worked as a tour guide, data analyst and assistant zookeeper. Recent poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Rialto, Magma, Finished Creatures, The Alchemy Spoon and online at The Friday Poem. heidibeck.com @hbpoet
Black Nore Review 