I Am Phoenix

At first light the finches

are flitting about the trees

Flittering

fluttering

flit

purple finches

flit

Fluttering

flittering

fly

painted finches

fly.

In this companion volume to Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the winner of the 1989 Newbery Medal, Paul Fleischman celebrates the sound, the sense, the essence of birds. Written to be spoken aloud by two voices, sometimes alternating, sometimes simultaneous, these poems perfectly capture the beauty of birds in their singing, soaring, and rejoicing.