Night Birds

At night, late past
twelve, I hear them.

Loud chirping birds
clear like night sounds

unmuddied by day
droning. They are

unapologetic. Sharp-
shouting, “I am heard!”

No contest for their
platform, no shove-

pushing, first-in-line
claim-staking. They

are joyous bastards.

Sarah Thursday was mostly raised in Long Beach, California. She teaches 5th grade, is obsessed with music, and has only recently dived into poetry again. She has been published in Stylus, The Long Beach Union (CSULB), Brand New Retro, The Atticus Review, and an upcoming project called Please Judge: Short Stories Based on the Songs of Roky Erickson. She has also self-published five chapbooks over the years, The Perishing Hope of the Godless (1992), An Offering of Wisdom and Sorrow (1993), Trying to Tell You Something (1995), Things Mean a Lot at the Time (1999), and Healing the Heart of Ophelia (2001).