Catbird
Dumtella carolinensis
Gray pretender
samples beats
from spring peepers
and circus jays.
Coy poacher
salts its song
with crow ratchets
and blackbird rasps.
Droll plagiarist
cribs calls
from silken oriole
and spring bobolink,
even thieving
the wildcat’s
wounded mew.
Dan MacIsaac writes from Vancouver Island. His poetry has appeared in many journals, including Magma, Avis and Agenda, and is forthcoming in Stand. Brick Books published his debut collection Cries from the Ark in September 2017. His writer website is danmacisaac.com.