A golden crowned sparrow
stole the thunder
from my remarkably annoying alarm clock
for the second time this week.
My feathered friend’s
descending three-note song
awakened and arrested me
with the insistence of memory,
Sounds and flavors plucked straight
from simple moments of childhood
can bring me to my knees.
This bird
with his comforting and familiar refrain
brought a morning message
of peace and gratitude
from a back yard in Red Hill
where my wonderfully stubborn Poppop
built a high-rise apartment
on an impossibly tall metal pole.
It has been nearly 50 years
since I last heard that song.
But somehow
it still feels like
sunshine
and comfort
in my bones.
