As a poet, I have always been astounded by the endless ways we are gifted with inspiration. The poem, it seems, is always there – just needing something to awaken it. Today, that something was a small gray and white bird that, as I was working on a newsletter for next week – hurled itself repeatedly at the screen on the window near my desk. It would stop and rest on the table for a bit – and then begin again. I cannot know its motivation but, its action inspired something in me – perhaps something in us all – the realization that we, at one time or another, seek to accomplish the impossible. And then the question posed itself: what if we could? And the answer seemed to be – “Aye, there’s the rub…” – William Shakespeare.
BIRD OUTSIDE MY WINDOW
small
gray/white bird
fluffed up to twice
its size
hurls itself against
my window screen
oblivious to damage
or to pain
again
again
again…
there it is
the need
the pertinacious pressure
to succeed
simply be know
what’s unknowable become
a part of that which will
never let you in
something seductive
on the other side
of everything
window screens
invisible defenses
the guarded stare the hand
you reach for
that isn’t there
motivation or
desire kicking into
grinding gear
each failure taunts
us to begin
reach for some
anonymous
reward
that’s where we fall
we fail unknowing
the objective
destination oblivious
to what awaits
us on the other
side
the lie the truth
the calm the storm
beyond
that baffling
divide…
little bird
I could open wide my window
let you in
but then I fear
you’d learn to your chagrin
winning is the terminus
where losing
begins…
