Philomel

Giacomo Leopardi
was in Europe, I believe,
when he wrote In Praise of Birds.
He would have studied blackbirds,
sparrows, starlings,
and sweet-voiced nightingales.

Birds, he tells us,
though free and independent,
are none the less sensitive
to the presence of man.
Where people are gentler,
birdsong is, too.

A kookaburra laughs
and I ponder his theory
in this hemisphere.
Till 1788, I wonder,
was the singing of wattlebirds
honey-sweet?

First published in Philomel & Wattlebird
[Fellowship of Australian Writers, Tasmania, 1994.]

© Robyn Mathison