The speaker starts with a simple question—“What’s your name?”—and gets a playful, impossible answer: “Omnibird,” delivered in “surroundsound.” From there, birdcalls become a kind of choir or union. Each bird sounds like the others, and the speaker finds that comforting rather than limiting: there is no prima donna, and even a solo keeps the texture of group song. The mood is light and musical, with a touch of affectionate satire. Then the last lines complicate it. We hear about petitions, signature campaigns, and second sopranos “clamoring to be first.” The harmony isn’t perfect; beneath the chorus there’s restless ambition and a desire to stand out. The poem captures both the pleasure of collective voice and the small rivalries humming inside it.
Bird Union — Summary
What’s your name I asked Omnibird Said it in surroundsound
No primadonnas among us One sounds like another of its kind And doesn’t mind the rhyme It’s the art of singing in a choir Even when singing solo
Petition re petition A signature campaign Second sopranos Clamoring to be first