Just when you think
you know all the birds'
names, there’s a twist
in some gene somewhere
and there’s a new name,
or an exotic bird
nobody’s ever seen,
hiding behind humility
in some jungle with a call
that sounds, if you stretch
it, like someone needs help
or a distant siren. So why
bother, is what I’m thinking
now, why bother to learn
names from a list that
keeps moving. It would
be easier just to listen
to the sounds and
watch the paths
of their lives light up
the sky in some order
you have no chance,
ever, of grasping.