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The Male Wippoorwill

Upon summer night’s relaxing meander
Songbirds abound, exchange sweet-sounding banter
Alone farther into the woods I’ve decided I’d walk
No one alongside me with which I could talk

As daylight was slipping from sky into ground
It was then that I heard a most recognizable sound
I stopped where I was; I kept perfectly still
For it was the call of a male Whippoorwill

The scene was iconic, the moon climbing above pines
A place in that moment where all nature aligned
All quiet it was albeit the nocturnal calls
As God’ nighttime creatures did scamper and crawl

The whippoorwill continued its incessant call that night
What would he tell us, if only he might
Is he even aware of the earth’s desperate plight
That is seemingly lost on man’s narrow sight

2019