Mockingbird

Hush, baby, have you heard?

One of the greatest joys in my life now is the talented mockingbird in a bush by the entrance of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. I've never seen him, but I've heard about 30 of his songs. He can imitate blue jays, car alarms, sea gulls, crickets, and a variety of many more avian whistles, diphthongs, and cheers.

Whenever I'm weary, he makes me instantly smile, pause, look at the half-moon and the fireflies that have begun to blaze their green bottoms in the night air. 

My mornings are rushed, my workdays recently have been wearying, and my nights are hungry and dazed until the birds sing in the early blue sky. So I count my colorful joys when I hear them.