Warblers Near Dusk

Yellow and yellow-rumped,
Small birds of least concern,
Short, clear calls of fixed notes,

Hide in the mulberry
And sing out just ahead
Of another day’s dark.

Too common to be thrilled
To hear, but even these
Diminish by the year.

Songbirds, silences, bees,
Dark skies, these little things,
Unimportant topics

For important writing,
Continually seem
To be diminishing.