“The Morning Chorus” by Catalina Videla
March 11, 2025
Before the sun rises, amid the clicking and chittering birdsong creeping past my curtains, I wake up
under a blanket of warm darkness. The air hangs thick and full of potential as the sun rises and reveals
lush grass, old stone, window panes, and draping trees. It reminds me of Florida when the ants on the
parapet crawl across my skin, tickling my feet. But I hear the difference in this country, thousands of
miles from home and across an ocean. As the sun stretches its arms over the campus, I hear the
difference in the murmur of accents and the voices of Australian birds.
Warm heavy morning
Rises with birdsong, voices
From so far away
This poem was written by Catalina Videla, a 2024-25 Youth Poetry Fellow. Performed at the Seattle Arts & Love, Hope, and Other Four Letter Words event with Natasha Lyonne at Benaroya Hall on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.