Today the focus is on native
songbirds colonizing Hawai’i
millions of years ago – evolving
into dozens of unique species,
six of which live only on the island
of Kaua’i, in its mountain rain-
forests. First, three critically
endangered ones:
the small secretive Kaua’i Thrush (Puaiohi);
the Kaua’i Creeper (‘Akikiki) – victim of avian
malaria spread by introduced mosquitoes;
the black-masked yellow-bodied forager
in the ‘Ohi’a canopy, Kaua’i Akepal
(‘Akeke’e).
Next, one threatened well-known icon:
‘I’iwi, red and black with its enormous
curved orange bill fitting perfectly into
the tubular lobelia of mint and ‘ohi’a flowers.
Finally, the four declining ones:
the bright greenish-gold ‘Anianiau;
the greenish-yellow songster Kaua’i Amakihi;
the red and black‘Apapane;
the charismatic flycatcher, guiding spirit of early
Hawai’ian canoe makers, Kaua’i ‘elepaio
with its cocked tail and curious nature.
May these endemic ones brought
to the brink of extinction be protected
from non-native predators (rats and feral cats)
and introduced diseases (avain malaria).
May captive breeding programs be
successful, and the forest be restored
to a healthy safe habitat.
Grieving for the seven native songbird
species already gone, I hear the songs
of the ones still with us, rejoicing they
fill our thoughts and hearts with hope.
Who would dare give up on them?
Would it not be a sin? For surely they
are numbered with our kin. Among them,
I feel the longing to remain.
But I will return to the place where
I belong, an emissary carrying back
their story and song. Still, for this moment,
this here and now, waiting empty
and speechless, I belong.
Note: Listen to all native bird songs at the website of David Kuhn.
—
Diana Woodcock has authored seven chapbooks and six poetry collections, most recently Heaven Underfoot (2022 Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award), Holy Sparks (2020 Paraclete Press Poetry Award finalist) and Facing Aridity (2020 Prism Prize for Climate Literature finalist). A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net nominee, she received the 2011 Vernice Quebodeaux Pathways Poetry Prize for Women (for her debut collection, Swaying on the Elephant’s Shoulders). She teaches at VCUarts Qatar. www.dianawoodcock.com.
