Singing Bird
Singing Bird, September 2020, Acrylic on gesso board panel, 18”x24”
Singing Bird
‘On the willow’s highest branch, monopolizing
Day and night, cheeping, squeaking, soaring,
The mockingbird is imitating life.
Now, in the moonlight, he sits here and sings
A thrush is singing then a thrasher, then a jay –
Then, all at once, a cat begins meowing,
A mockingbird can sound like anything,
He imitates the world he drove away
So well that for a minute, in the moonlight,
Which one’s the mockingbird? Which one’s the world?’
From The Mockingbird by Randall Jarrell, 1914-1965
‘An individual Mockingbird can imitate over 150 different sounds. They are not mocking the species they imitate, just showing off their own vocal ability.’
From What it’s like to be a Bird by David Allen Sibley 1961-
Music: Vogel als Prophet (the bird as prophet) from Waldszcenen (Forest Scenes) by Robert Schumann, Op. 82, No.7 in G Minor.
Little Bird by Edvard Grieg from Lyric Pieces Op. 43, No. 4 in D Minor