by Mary E. Lowd
March 22, 2021
1.
One bird
Swooping over the ocean
One bird
Only one
But each feather
Each single feather
Is another
And another
More birds than can be counted
When all is accounted for
When all is done
The starlings fly together
Each bird
A tiny part
Of the bigger one
2.
Starlings like stars
Flitting and flying
Filling the powder blue
With their plentitude
As thick as galaxies
Dense as nebulae
But not so far away
They fill our sky
On this side
Of the horizon
Inside the sphere
Where we all live
Stars within reach
Starlings
Like stars
3.
Red giants and white dwarfs,
Scattered through the sky,
Deep black fields of velvet,
Purple dusty swirls,
The entire cosmos,
In the feathers,
Of one,
Beautiful,
Bird.
* * *
From the book: Some Words Burn Brightly: An Illuminated Collection of Poetry
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