Blackbird Morning

It's a blackbird morning.
I do not take from it
Any overt meaning…
I am happy that they are here
Exploring and enjoying
Their good fortune
In the form of seed and suet.

I am reminded of school children
Let loose for recess;
Let the good times roll.
The birds and I have negotiated
Unilaterally an accord:
 I feed them and
They come close enough
So that I can enjoy their company
From the comfortable view
Of my easy chair

Cup of coffee in hand.

I am the consummate reluctant ornithologist.

River in the Sky

Look up just now
And you might see
Catching your eye
As they did today mine
A massing of migrants
An assemblage of blackbirds
Winging by the hundreds and thousands
Schooling in a serpentine stream
Moving within an imperative dream
Flowing with an efficiency found in such unity
Wide as a river and miles and miles long
Drawn high aloft by imploring instincts
Defying death while affirming life
An avian stream
A river of life
Passing by in the sky.