Heroic Birds

author’s note:

For all the heroic birds out there.


HEROIC BIRDS

Such fierce resiliency--
witness
how those wrens hold out
in the awning of a gas station

or peck at the fallen fries
on a greasy fast-food drive-thru lane.

Why would they choose this mess
instead of the open sky?

Maybe those peasants understand
how survival in a shabby wasteland
elevates them to heroic status.

One summer day I marveled
at the easy glide of two eagles
circling high over a valley

but I see as much beauty
in the way those wrens flurry
their little brown wings.

© 2021, Michael R. Patton