The Stoic Starling - A Life Lived
Wounded he Arrived.
But, he carried on as best he could,
Almost cheerfully with his life.
Eating, Drinking, and Bathing
Enthusiastically in a splashy pool of water.
A daily visitor, he hobbled on each step,
Balancing on one healthy right leg,
The other lifted and withered.
Flapping his wings awkwardly to steady himself,
On the flat feeder of mealworms,
On the stone-bath rim of cool, clear water.
He came for many weeks for steady nourishment,
And was witnessed by the “image maker”.
The white-spotted, iridescent bird elicited empathy
From the old man, for the stout, stoicism observed.
Then, one afternoon, the Starling drank
From the trough, sensed imminent danger,
and frantically flew into the adjacent,
thick evergreens - Lost and Hidden,
Presumably protected from all threats.
Suddenly, a swift gray-brown mass plunged from the sky,
Buried itself into the same evergreens, the Hawk reemerged
And flew with a short U-turn back into the emerald ferns.
Obscured, it completed its deadly work and flew back out
With its limp, midnight-black prey clutched in its claws.
To the grim-faced, Gray-Beard, it was all too surreal.
Others, unbeknownst to him, also had their keen amber
Eyes a-fixed on this demonstratively handicapped bird.
It was just another normal day’s routine, a wildlife
Dance of Death to Mother Nature’s Tunes.
Done silently and undercover with tragic swiftness,
One moment the disabled bird Lived the Good Life,
Then the next moment it perished,
on a somber, overcast September day.
The following bright morning,
A male Successor Starling arrives,
Healthy and unencumbered to assume the lost territory
Of the once Stoic Starling.
The Life and Death Cycle begins anew.
Reflections ...
What happened to you Stoic Starling,
While hidden under cover of those dense ferns?
Why did you not escape out the back door,
When terror approached the front door?
You were so strong in facing the
hardships that Life unfairly dealt to you,
Why were you not equally strong when faced
With the Prospect of Death?
__________________________________________________________________________
D W Orr
Environmentalist, Weimaraner/Dachshund Companion, Photographer, and Poet-Provocateur
Harford County, Maryland,
Here, where it all began, 252 years ago, in the USA
September 10, 2021
The Stoic Starling: One of many daily baths enjoyed by our visitor.
The Stoic Starling: Our visitor delightfully splashes while bathing.
The Stoic Starling: Our friend emerges from his bath. His left wing also appeared to be in a weakened state.
The Stoic Starling: Greets an unexpected guest.
The Stoic Starling: The withered and useless left leg.
The Stoic Starling: A balanced pose.
The Stoic Starling: RIP (died 9/9/2021). You lived a full life, even though being disadvantaged.
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The Poet-Provocateur
”The Man who sees well beyond the day-to-day Bullshit”