Songbird Shriek

Birdsong kills off dawn’s silent approach
but its beauty justifies the crime
in fact pleasant enough to be worth
suffering this morning muggy air
damp
gritty
like a sandy beach
stuck at low tide refusing to dry
mug in hand there’s an Amazon heat
sitting on my neck
that’s Texas for you
yet even in the discomfort
there’s a pleasant tranquility
to the songbird’s shriek
so I stay
to witness
the rise