the one whispering an old, old tune into the ear
of the other –?Baby, baby, don’t leave me this way.
It meant nothing to me?–?
then, at least?–?but did you know the collective noun
for swans is a lamentation? And is a lamentation not
its own species of song?
John Murillo, Upon Reading That Eric Dolphy Transcribed Even the Calls of Certain Species of Birds,
