“lookatbirdie”

said little sweet Maggie

only a hatchling herself

pearly blue eyes

open to the world

and full of ignorance

look

and see the jay

seeking his sustenance

his obsequious comrades

in a nearby pine

anxious for his return

look

and see the sparrow

resting on the fallen fir

alert and starving

his ear tuned by a desperate hand

miserable quidnunc

his departure

fuelled by a hint of hope

leads him to the meadow

golden from the angry sun

whose glare has destroyed many a bird

look

and see a lonely crow

black as the sorrow

which he is said to foretell

the grating call-

which is not a call but a cry

a cry of exhaustion

and anger

but mostly fear

look

and behold the owl

once tough and mighty

he held the dominion

some thousand years ago

now a mere shell of that creature

Death whispers into his ear

but he does not listen

and manages to shift on the limb

where he observes it all

for he is the sagest of the birds

and knows

knows that disaster is close

and through introspection,

he is powerless

he catches my eye

we share a knowing glance

look

and see Maggie and I

returning to be with our kind

people

a people blinded by

fear

and hate

and intolerance

and ignorance

we lack only the feathers.