You have never truly been chastised
until you have endured the scolding of a catbird
jabbed by such a sharp-tongued and flippant critique
sarcastically machine-gunned into the clear 5AM air
with dramatic pause, that feigns obvious disregard
and turns in a micro-second to the rat-a-tat-tat of random slander

All this, because you dared wake up early to step outside.

The other members of our morning’s dawn chorus
lift their delicate voices, warming up casually
with easy abandon, greeting one another mid-air
each note celebrating the light, in a lacy chaos of solfeggio
small shifts up and down, vocal scales and tongue trills
tuning in and out of range in a lovely, feathered falsetto

On and on, they sing in praise of today, today, today.

All so clearly unafraid of a world being torn apart
a traveling caravan, that follows the sun
this volley of voices bounds back and forth
a call and response, cajoling each other
challenging and cavorting, glee growing
louder and with such cheer they burst the sky open!

And you, in the midst of these immeasurable melodies.

This is a conversation well-worth pouring another cup of coffee
for you are alive, smack-dab and center of a one-time-only symphony
brought to you by tiny, chirping descendants of dinosaurs
without string or bow, mallet or pic, reed or valve
entirely improvised by ramshackle masters of sound
making the first notes of rhythm and pitch and beginning, now, now, now!

But again, the catbird side-eyes you, darts in close to shame you.

He berates you, you, your very presence, the sheer audacity of you
you! the bumbling idiot who ventured on the deck
mostly, because you missed the annual visit of a lonely cardinal
who had sought a mate every spring for the last 5 years
exhausting himself with clever compositions, trumpeting his talent
to no avail, from a branch right outside your bedroom window.

You sigh, as a second catty complaint begins.

So, you imagine your dear, old red-feathered friend, not gone
but sitting somewhere on a fluffy cloud
having flown to his last reward on a winter wind
finally joined by his lost-and-found lady love
as a perfect sunrise rolls out before them with soft music below
in the rarefied promise of a new day born.

A new day, undisturbed by any reprimand of a chatty, opinionated catbird.