The Northern Mockingbird

By Nike

HAVANA TIMES – I’ve been trying to record the song of the Northern Mockingbird, who has chosen the highest branches of my avocado tree as its stage. Every morning, when I sit on my terrace to enjoy my coffee, the Mockingbird begins to sing his melodies, as if he were watching me. They say that he does this to try and seduce a female. The truth is that every morning the Mockingbird sings a new tune, as if he were trying to catch my attention.

I’ve tried to record him several times. One morning, as I was moving my cellphone in the direction of the tree branch where my gentleman the Mockingbird was singing, the voice of a man shouting to another where he could find cooking oil, came from the street. The other man replied as if he were speaking to the entire town, “Nowhere, compadre, cooking oil is nowhere to be found.” The Mockingbird stopped singing, as if he were embarrassed, and jumped to seek cover behind a leaf.

Another morning, I had set everything up and as soon as the Mockingbird began to sing, a shrieking cry came from the front gate… a neighbor was notifying my husband that they were unloading cassava on the corner, and nobody was there. The Mockingbird that knows nothing about cassava or lines, slipped away between the tree branches again and stopped singing. I was so frustrated that I even imagined composing a tragic opera between a city woman and a Mockingbird.

The plot of my opera was in my head all day. It would be something like the Phantom of the Opera. Just that in this case, it was an impossible love between a bird and a woman. I wanted to add this idea to the article because so many things are being done today that maybe somebody is inspired and manages to bring this drama to life. It would involve two lead characters of different species who are seeking to improve the world by transforming noise into beautiful melodies.

The idea reached its peak one morning when I was sure nothing would stop me from recording my hero, but then the sudden noise of a drill in a neighbor’s house made it run away, afraid. I had never thought about all of the unpleasant sounds that we human beings make, that was until I fell in love with the Mockingbird’s song.

Here is the recording I was finally able to make with my humble cellphone, I hope that you are able to appreciate the beautiful song of my Northern Mockingbird in spite of all the other noises. It is a very interesting bird as it imitates other birdsongs and other noises, such as car alarms and dogs barking.

Read more from Nike here on Havana Times.