He sings alone
just before light
Farewell, farewell
beloved night
Summer is nigh
yet again keep
echoing hope
—all do not sleep
Whip-poor-will in the woods behind my home about an hour before dawn. Such longing and long-ago in the sound, for me. When my oldest boy was three, our family moved from Virginia’s Eastern Shore to the North Carolina Piedmont. We lived in a parsonage beside a little church high on a hill. It was June. All that first summer, when dusk settled in and I put my boy to bed for the night, the whip-poor-wills began calling. Over and over and over. Usually just one. The sound carries; it echoes through the darkness from the woods across the ponds and pastures, from old and deep places, affixing itself to the listening soul. I rejoice in its returning.
lit bits and pieces 
Fran, the evening sounds of birdsong and bedtime combine here to create such a feeling of relaxation. They call here, too, and surely you won’t believe that I did the same thing about a week ago- I captured the call on audio when I was walking the dogs listening to all the different birds. I like that you posted the call here on your post. It really adds to your post to hear the sound!
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I do believe it, Kim – I can see you out there, recording, soaking in the birdsong. Hearing it brings me so much peace.
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Such a haunting call. It is clearly evocative for you. Such a powerful symbol of this time of year, I might imagine. Lovely verse, too. Particularly, “…keep / echoing hope / –all do not sleep”.
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It IS a haunting and poignant call for me. Lots of emotion folded together, really. means summer’s on the way, even though temperatures have remained unusually cool here. Thank you for these words!
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