Westport Dawning

4:11 AM.
The Westport countryside is wrapped in the dark cloak of night.

“Chirrup...”  
One solitary note breaks the stillness. The summer night rolls over for a few more minutes of silent repose.

4:24 AM.
“Chirrup...”
The faintest hint of light glows from under the eastern horizon.

4:31 AM.
As if Mother Nature has sounded some diurnal alarm clock, the birds of the neighborhood seem to awaken in unison. Trees and bushes become the bleachers for choirs of songbirds to announce the dawning of another day.
Chipping sparrows, black capped chickadees, robins and their neighbors all vie for air space and proclaim territory.

5:05 AM.
A look out the window reveals that they are not yet in flight but are in some primordial process of waking up, perhaps their equivalent of brewing coffee before flying off to work in our lawns and fields, foraging for their food before returning to their perches at day’s end.

Soon we listeners will begin our own days, preparing our morning elixirs, going about our business, and returning later to our own nests. And probably envying what we see as the uncomplicated lives of our winged neighbors on this planet, wishing we, too, could be “free as a bird.”

Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.

Westport, MA

Comments

[Rebecca Wilson]

Wow! You've morphed into a poet. Excellent!

[Joanne Yeomans]

Dear Paul, Your eloquent prose re Westport Dawning brought to mind my own reflections. Those damn birds wake me every morning with their cacaphony of noise!!! And the baby birds ( 3 of them, no less) that are nesting in my porch rafters continue to pelt me with their droppings as I sit their with my tea in the morning!!

Hmmmmmm.....why does our shared environment bring such opposing thoughts to our minds???? Is there any hope for me?????

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.]

Joanne,
Clearly I'm lucky that I don't have the chorus of birds as close as you do.I might have written an entirely different commentary if our roles were reversed!

[Jon Alden]

Having trouble sleeping, Paul?

LOL

Good job!

[Bambi Good]

as always, there is poetry in life and in your voice

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.]

Thanks, Jon, getting up that early is for the birds...I'm not usually a witness to events at that hour!

[Ann Baker]

Wonderful.......Thanks

[Carolyn Liesy]

Bird song is about identifying mates as far as I know. I get up around 5am here to meditate and so I am regularly familiar with the symphony. But I love your way of describing it.

[Alan Rogers]

Paul, Sure evokes a bit of nostalgia! See you in a couple of weeks

[Bob Maurice]

you are so right