Outdoor Opera

songs of nature

Thank you to Nathan Anderson for this image

Who are the angels — the heavenly choirs?
Are human voices obligatory?

What if they are sheep — gentle warblings
from their woolly tribe? Or the call
of the albatross, her wings
spread over sea ripples as she declares
her blessing? Might it be the throat-gurgle
of an alligator, the bleat
of an alpaca, the echoing recital
sung by a whale, the liquid murmur
from the throat of a dove?

Paradise
is the life that surrounds us;
divine songs of nature
if only we’d listen.