‘What’s that?’ she asked abruptly,
pointing to the smallest
bird perched in the tree
beside us.

I almost missed it listening
to the sound resounding
all around me, loud
and laughing.

This Irish lilt, melodic
song that filled the air,
composers answering
each other.

But then I saw it fill its
chest, open its beak,
and sing and sing and sing,
so merry!

This little fellow was the
author of the song
that brought such joy, we can’t
stop smiling!

This afternoon we took a post lunch walk around Lea Valley and saw a chiffchaff in the tree beside us. Their loud and laughing song always makes me smile. I was surprised to discover that the source of this big sound is such a small bird! I thought I’d try and capture something of its bouncy song in the form of this poem. If you don’t know what they sound like listen to this: https://youtu.be/we0bA5POyzU?si=etmckMGRQWKkPgjL
(10.04.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Andrey Strizhkov on Unsplash