an Abenaki elder
told me to listen,
asked me to name
the birds as they
spoke to us and
I couldn’t name
one, couldn’t
distinguish any
of their voices
and he said I
just needed to
listen more,
so he was
quiet, but
the lake
was not,
all of these
rattles and
chirps and
whistles and
drumming
and trills
that were
gorgeously
orchestral
and he, for
me, started
naming all
the different
birds: robin,
cardinal, finch,
woodpecker,
starling, and
he pointed
to a crane
watching us
with such
intensity
and he
whispered
do you see
how intensely
it’s listening
to us?  And
I could.  And
he said for me
to become
a crane
so that I
could hear
the crane
and we sat
in our kayaks
and the wind
started to blow
him softly away
from me so that
all that I was left
with was the birds
and I could tell
the difference
and I actually felt
like different blood
was in my arteries
and that my skin
was more awake
and the wind
I realized
was speaking
to me too
and I heard
a voice saying
Yes, yes, yes.