This poem is inspired by two sources. The first is Job 40:15 which begins “Behold Behemoth!” I’ve been preaching through the book of Job, and I am finding that my imagination is getting a little dark. I need a bit of a corrective. The chickadee is one of my favorite birds. His diminutive stature and friendly nature are an encouraging guide.

The other inspiration is a suite of songs titled Bird Songs and written by my good friend Michael Kuehn. You should listen to his music, and purchase it too! You may listen to his Bird Songs avian suite HERE. Even though it’s an instrumental work, I may have even poached a line or two from him as I’ve heard him talk about it; this is to say all credit goes to him and all the blame to me.

If you’d like, you may listen to me read the poem via the player below.

Behold the chickadee 
Which God made as He
Made you and me 
The smallest of beasts
But whose song is large
Among those creatures who sing,
Whose voice in the morning rings
From the tree, tree, tree.

God’s monochrome rover,
He flits back and over
Flies back and over and over again
Between the limb where he sits,
Between the feeder and me,
Where I stop, nod, and smile
At him as I sit in the sun
Sipping tea, tea, tea.

Capped in black, winter’s for him.
He does not flee the cold
But settles in with the others:
Titmouse, Junco, and Towhee. 
Is it friendliness?
Or just curiosity?
Or is it His Maker’s glee
That makes him sing
So cheerfully?
Chickadee, dee, dee.

© Randall Edwards 2020
artwork: ink and linoleum block print by Randall Edwards