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John Zheng

A Way of Watching

Quarantined, I find plenty of time sitting by the window watching birds. They sing intermittently on the tallow tree—a warbler’s chirp, a cardinal’s cheer, a blue jay’s squawk, a mockingbird’s tongue-twister, or a mourning dove’s coo. Their songs hearten me to whistle at them delightfully in the face of the disheartening reality.

the moon leaps
onto the porch swing
to curl up
a low jangle
in the empty evening

About the Author

John Zheng has authored Enforced Rustication in the Chinese Cultural Revolution and published haibun and tanka prose in CHO, Haibun TodaySouthern Quarterly and Spillway.

2 thoughts on “<strong>John Zheng</strong>, A Way of Watching”

  1. I love the phrase – ‘heartens me to whistle at them’ and the moon which ‘leaps onto the porch swing. A good Covid piece, showing how so many of us have been reconnecting with nature,

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