bird sound words

There is much splashing
& the song
hardens
into many simultaneous
drops

*

1) place names very close together
2) place names very far apart

This follows
the general song axiom
to always be abstract
before being explicit

*

In effect
the instrument's sound flows
indexically to the body's flow

by the singer, whose song
demands confirmation
singling out
one, two
or a number of audience members
who may be provoked
to tears

*

These phrases beg for help
attention
and recognition

and result in a feeling
of sorrow

*

The song had proceeded, hardened
& climaxed; here, at the end,
you are what you call
"home"

-

Adapted from Steven Feld's Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics and Song in Kaluli Expression, (2nd ed. 1990) University of Pennsylvania Press.