Calling For Robins

Zak Rosen makes The Best Advice Show and was wondering whether I had any advice. I told him that this year I’ve been learning the calls of local birds and listening for their calls. For me it feels like a kind of treasure hunt around the city. The delight of meeting a bird and sharing a song together always marks the day as something special.

In this poem Calling for Robins I’m trying to translate a part of this experience into sound.

Calling For Robins - 

This year I’ve been calling for Robins 

When the jobs ran awry - and the real money dried up 

I wanted to let their liquid gold, spill through my ears 

When love went awry 

Through change and tears 

I went to catch eyes with robins in the park 

To feel the old spark igniting in new ways 

When all the WhatsApp threads had silenced

Escaping Zoom Rooms hot and flush 

Their songs still syrupped on. 

When words were too 

Difficult to pronounce the soft whistle still urged itself up

I offer myself to Robins, like the worm with the death-wish

Their call giving a shape and clarity to the day 

And in the pin-point of their eyes

I seem to find some understanding

Rooting me back to the earth. 

So, when everything begins to feel awry

I advice, calling for robins.