All Language Does

All Language Does

The sharp click
the thumb encourages
from the pen’s end,
the click the mind
fills in. Where is
the sound. We want
to gobble it down,
file it in the Repository
of Noises, Available
and Ordinary yet
Powerful. The best-
selling birdcall
is made of cast zinc
and red birch wood.
When you twist
the metal peg in
the wooden chamber,
the squeak attracts
birds. Not because
it sounds just like
a bird, but because
the sound makes them
wonder what it is,
just like you, when
you hear a chirp
coming from your
cousin’s clasped hands.