Introduction To Mimus Polyglottus

Mimus Polyglottus, the Northern Mockingbird, is a bird that likes to hear the songs of the birds around it and celebrate them, make them a part of its own song,

much like a poet does: I learned that from Walt Whitman, through his own mockingbird poem,

Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking, in which he realized his primal purpose as a poet was to
keep alive the songs that came before him.

It's a lesson that keeps coming back to me, through poetry, through nature, and by people I pass along the way.