The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Laméris, Danusha. “Night Bird.” Poetry Magazine (May 2023).

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

Danusha Laméris' "Night Bird," originally published in the May 2023 issue of Poetry Magazine, is a sonnet (a single stanza with 14 lines). Though figurative language is often thought of as being central to poetry, this particular poem rejects metaphors, symbolism, and other forms of figurative language in favor of allowing things to be what they are without comparison.

In the poem, the speaker bids the reader to listen attentively as she lists different natural phenomena, stating that each thing is just what it is. Later on, the speaker questions who can read the world in all its mystery and complexity. At the end of the poem, the speaker hears a bird crying at night, and she is able to listen without thinking that the sound is meant for her.