Hearing in the Dark by Charles Wyatt

In the dark dawn these birdcalls

mixed together in the same tangle

I have known since I have known things

Water can flow slowly or invisibly

Wind can wash and bring with it

distant barking even its own sound

When the bird sings the moment is over

and we can only remember

yet it seems present but there is no present

It has all become past in the dark dawn

where I stand again as if this moment

is yesterday in this present so fine

it can balance on a pin on a song

that has not yet been sung

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Charles Wyatt is the author of two collections of short fiction, a novella, and 2 poetry collections.  He lives in Nashville, TN where he was principal flutist of the Nashville Symphony for 25 years.