I nod. My father whistles, clearing the dishes, and I think of how his birdsong has filled our homes
Wherever we have lived. Six places in my sixteen years.
Philadelphia, London, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Berlin
And now
now Singapore. Seven
I picture the lamenting bird outside dripping in the tree.
Did it
migrate, the way we did? From city to village
to island?
Do kools over miss their old nests? Was she singing about
that now?
As a baby. I flew in an airplane before I could walk
I've never known a life with one house, one yard, one block

Review the third stanza of the poem, at the top of
35
page 3
Click or tap the underlined part of the stanza
that BEST reveals the speaker's misgivings about
frequent moves.

But in all of our homes, I've sought the wild outside.
Wherever we go the local flora and fauna are
always my Eden, my private delight
In London, the lavender-studded sidewalks.
In Phnom Penh, the whispering frangipani trees.
In Shanghai, the rock gardens. In Berlin the still lakes.
And hero?