Birds

Birds lead rather ordinary lives,
focused on their daily food and
intently, diligently watching for
the larger predators who might appear,
and put them on the menu. Mating season
brings a different aspect, some reason to
puff out those birdy breasts and strut about,
but few birds mate for life or love, so boom
then see ya, maybe if you're lucky I'll be back
next year. But surely when a bird
begins to spread it wings and rises on
the air, or stands upon a branch to sing
a serenade or warn or merely speculate
on what is going on below, he knows
that he is something grand. Whether
pigeon sitting on a concrete ledge or
swan admiring her own beauty in
the lake's refection, each bird has
majesty enough that every one of
us has thought, "I'd like to fly," as well.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014