Rainbird

Lingering shadows still darken the windows 

As the waking world puts on its clothes

Drifting out of a dream

My expectant ear follows the seam

Of a string of notes stitched into the dawn

Like beads of dew on a fresh green lawn 

Echoes on the courtyard walls 

The residents yawn

Rising sound

And your song rings round

Now high , now low, pining

As it flies and falls. 

Perched out of sight 

You are seldom seen 

Before we hear your strain 

But we are compelled mid stirring plight 

To wait for the refrain 

The rain 

Early as the dawn broke

It came

And muted your cascading trills

As it hushed and rattled at  the pane

Every chip and chirrup filled 

The gutter and the gushing drain 

Like water you let your music spill

Until it joined the stream again. 

Then quiet ensues

The deluge past 

No more to us assail 

As day begins we hear the last 

Of rain and bird and sweet reveille. 

Joe Morriss

21st June 2020