I Am Phoenix

At first light the finchesare flitting about the treesFlitteringflutteringflitpurple finchesflitFlutteringflitteringflypainted finchesfly. 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.