I have a letter from Oklahoma—
A professor of logic, part-time ornithologist,
Doubts that Kentucky has had the chance to hear
A whippoorwill’s song the third month of the year
When the Sooner State must wait till April at least.
I’d heard a whippoorwill’s stout-hearted call
And printed the fact and thought it within reason
For bird or man to sing in or out of season
As any might err, might sound a note quite new,
Deny the systems and set the graphs askew.
I hold this state is not alone in being lucky
It has a whippoorwill uncommonly plucky;
I believe I’m not indulging in idle misnomer
By calling all fortunate, including Oklahoma,
When bird or thought makes lists and manuals vain.
O earliest whippoorwill, come again!