Crow, Mockingbird and Bluejay

Crow
with his black heart
antagonizes
with malice
of intent

Mockingbird
with his mate
will not be intimidated
stands his ground
singing the whole time

Blue jay
with his fine blue coat
knows
that he is a pretty bird
and pays their drama no mind

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Mockingbird
by my window listening to
Charlie Parker play on my radio
decided that he too could sing like a bird
His intro riff was a clarion call to heaven and
Then he dropped down into a minor key, the brother/bird tweeted
thirds and fiths and sevenths too, hitting staccato notes blue as the sky

He made it sing
He improvised and built his
song into a steady grind even making it swing
And I swear that I thought "this bird is messing with me"
He broke into a kind of scatting that was so joyous that I understood
The best thing to do was to just turn my radio off and listen to the mockingbird

by Kelvin Cook