This is Bird Note.

It's National Poetry Month in the U.S., and each year we like to celebrate by sharing our favorite contemporary writers' work about birds.

Amy Nizucomitatil is known for writing about nature, but more than that, wonder at the natural world.

One of the roots of the word wonder is the same root of the word to smile.

And so for me, wonder is curiosity, but with a smile.

And Amy is full of both curiosity and smiles.

Her poetry is often driven by encountering a new species, learning a new animal behavior,

seeing connections between nature and ourselves.

When you're like, gosh, why does the bird owl sound like, who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?

You know, that kind of thing?

Like, who came up with that?

And how do you even say that phrase without smiling?

I have no tolerance for people who say, like, nothing to write about. Like, you are not looking. You are not hearing. You are not feeling.

You're not tasting.

Like, what is wrong with you that you're not just opening yourself up to ask why or how or what?

You know, like, just to be curious about the world around you.

I don't understand how anyone can run out of things to write about when you've got this planet to work with.

For example, take the Baja fairy duster. When Amy first saw this woody shrub, she was enamored.

It's native to the Baja Peninsula, hence the name, but the fairy duster comes from its flowers.

They're bright red pom-poms that seem impossibly delicate.

That plant inspired this poem.

When you are near, I turn into a Baja fairy duster at night.

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