A Quality of Sound
21” x 15”
Acrylic/Arches Paper

The birdsong, unlike anything within 
our human possibility, grabs our attention.
The Rufus’ brilliant green wings 
buzz side to side for a mate,                                                 
hinting that humanity, 
so precariously self-absorbed
shared more than it knew.

 I love the song of the joyful red finch as much as I love 
the coarse squawk of those cagy fun-loving ravens-
the loud marital squabbling of our titmouse couple
as she chases him for some unknown and
obviously unintended male lapse, 
evokes a smile in me, understanding as I do 
his feeling of incomprehension.

Yet aren’t they just delicious sounds
The ones we dance to and are thrilled by?
What about those that crackle in the night of thunder or 
those that wail through the dark echo of the tornado,
aren’t these too qualities of sound?
Possibly distinctions rest only within us
rather than in the sound itself.