Summary

In Part 1, "This Sort of Thing Happens All the Time," the speaker has memorized many bird calls. One night she hears a call she does not recognize. She looks at the mountains and sky, wishing she could hover a "cursor above the . . . greens" and discover the names of her surroundings (3). Another night, while "on a dark street in the suburbs," she identifies the smells in the air (4). She hears the news through a window. Outside, she only hears crickets, the unnamed bird, and two dogs barking.

In "Goldenrod," the speaker is not a botanist, but she tries identifying the flowers on the roadside. She calls one of them "goldenrod," though she is unsure if she is naming it correctly (5). She apologizes if she has misidentified the flower.

In "Animals," the speaker hears the president call "undocumented immigrants / animals" (6, Smith's italics). She considers the...