The Lightness of Being

There are some birds that hop

Whenever they are on the ground.

Others step along

With very fast stepping feet

And stop a lot to look this way and that.

Big birds like crow, hawk and eagle

Take long, confident, proud strides

And seem to know very well

Just what they are about to do.

I like the hoppers best

Perhaps because I watched them

As a child and I am a child

Once again.

I still find them

Fascinating, funny, and full of frolic.

This morning

It was a perching redwing blackbird

That caught me up

And set me to wondering in amazement.

He was a good sized bird

There balanced on the tip of a reed

Without bending it at all.

How do you do that?

My very soul asked him:

Are you an angel in disguise?

Oh, red-winged bird,

You personify the “unbearable lightness of being”

And yet you are

Not even aware of such a marvelous feat.

Czaja