The Song of the Unknown Bird

There is a most beautiful song 

That sweeps its way to our ears

It comes in our bedroom window

And seems to lift our weighty fears


We know not where the song comes from

We have never seen the bird before

We have scoured the tree tops in search of it

But it evades us all the more


This morning we just listened

It is the most beautiful song around

And let go of the need to find the bird

That just does not want to be found


Maybe it's okay to embrace the mystery

And let the song make its way to our soul

The colour of the feathers, the shape of it's beak

Are details we really don't need to know


Then the search for the bird is a waste of time

Something to be released

When it's the song that really matters

And it's the song that gives us peace


Oh, Unknown Bird, stay hidden from sight

Amid the leafy throng

As long as we can still listen

To your most beautiful song


© Ruby Neumann



Poet's Note: Written July 11, 2021. 

We have the window open in our bedroom and my husband's favourite bird is singing.  We don't know what kind of bird it is, we have never seen it.  But it has the most beautiful song.  We have tried to search the tree tops to see if we can discover what the bird looks like, but we have come out empty handed every time.  So this morning we just laid in bed and listened to the song.  We didn't rush to the window to see if we could get a look.  We just listened.  

I told my husband.  "Maybe we can just embrace the mystery".  Why do I have to know the bird?  Will the colour of the feathers and the size of the beak make any difference on the beauty of the song?  Maybe it is an ugly bird by human standards, I have noticed that the most beautiful birds, like the blue jay and the magpie are not the best singers.  Maybe this beautiful songbird is not the best looking.  Maybe that is why it hides in the trees.  It knows that it's song is what it has to offer.  

Maybe one day we will meet the bird, but today, it's identity remains a secret.  And maybe I can be okay with that.  It's anonymity doesn't take away from the beauty of the song.