Wednesday Words
I saw some birds today There were hundreds of them, flying in formation I think they were migrating or eating freshly hatched bugs out of the air I am sure that you have seen birds like this before The beautiful thing is the way that they move It’s like a physics class demonstration on fluid dynamics There are hundreds of birds flying It seems random but I’m confident that they know where they are going They do aggressive aerial acrobatics without every crashing into each other But it occurred to me that these are not just birds They are all of the things that I have forgotten These are the pieces of me that I’ve lost along the way These are fragments of myself that I didn’t realize were gone That bird is me running barefoot through the grass That bird is reckless abandon That bird is jumping in rain puddles Those birds are hopes, dreams, songs, ideas, and characters Morning hikes, perfect cups of coffee, and church organs that vibrated my chest Lying on my back starring at the darkest sky, waiting for a wish That bird is ice cream… so much ice cream It’s my Aunt Ruth’s bean soup, my grandfather’s stories, or my father’s hands Some birds are the sad parts that I try hard to forget It’s all of the things that I wish I had done differently but I was too scared or too comfortable There are so many birds flying recklessly All of the birds move and then land in the top of a tall, naked tree. They make this bare tree look like it is wearing its summer splendor. It looks like a summer tree but the birds are not the tree. They are a reflection of what the tree once was. They are glimpses of everything that the tree has ever been. There will be a future, lush and full of life. But for now, it’s only the birds. The birds will move on The tree will continue to stand Eventually it will remember Soon it will be full I saw some birds today