When The Sky Is Painted Black Poem by Jim Yerman

There is a bird outside my window who somehow has the knack
of singing me awake each morning when the sky is painted black

While all her friends are sleeping...heads nestled neath their wings
she rises early in her tree…and all she does...is sing.

She sings a beautiful melody...before the sun's first glow.
And I wonder:
Does she know morning approaches?
It's dark...how can she know?

Still she fills the night with music…with dignity…and grace
and though I've never seen her...I imagine a smile on her face.

It's such a lovely song she sings during the night to day interlude
and I admire her confidence,
her determination…
her faith…
her fortitude.

And when I'm feeling apprehensive…
when it's confidence I lack
I remember the bird who sings to me in the morning…
when the sky is painted black.