Compline

“’Lullaby of Birdland’ whisper low”

(With thanks to Sir George Shearing and George David Weiss)

Why do birds sing at night?

Morning chorales and evening reprises trill avé and valé to the sun;
but now the chorus starts just past dusk in the dimness of first dark.

There must be a reason they sing contentedly after fall of night.

They do not greet the moon as she has not yet risen
or the stars as they flicker faintly from aeons lost.

Is it a lullaby they chirp before putting their tiny heads beneath their wings, mayhap they chant their evening prayers,
or do they cheerfully rehearse their sunrise song?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 25 April 2016