Saturday in CinCity

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Blackbirds

by Julie Cadwallader Staub

I am 52 years old, and have spent
truly the better part
of my life out-of-doors
but yesterday I heard a new sound above my head
a rustling, ruffling quietness in the spring air

and when I turned my face upward
I saw a flock of blackbirds
rounding a curve I didn't know was there
and the sound was simply all those wings
just feathers against air, against gravity
and such a beautiful winning
the whole flock taking a long, wide turn
as if of one body and one mind.

How do they do that?

Oh if we lived only in human society
with its cruelty and fear
its apathy and exhaustion
what a puny existence that would be

but instead we live and move and have our being
here, in this curving and soaring world
so that when, every now and then, mercy and tenderness triumph in our lives
and when, even more rarely, we manage to unite and move together
toward a common good,

and can think to ourselves:

ah yes, this is how it's meant to be.




please note: photo by Stephen Cotterell, singer-unknown, found on YouTube

Comments

  1. Annie CoeMay 1, 2010 at 8:34 AM

    Such a beautiful poem, and song. I hope you are well, dear shiny. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. debraMay 1, 2010 at 4:52 PM

    love this song, always have. thanks for reminding me :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. OwenMay 2, 2010 at 2:47 PM

    "the whole flock taking a long, wide turn
    as if of one body and one mind"...

    I love it when that happens... so totally mysterious how an entire flock, sometimes hundreds of birds, can fly in perfect synchronization.

    Nice version of the Beatles tune there too. Well, I guess Magpies are half blackbird...

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 2, 2010 at 6:22 PM

    52 years old=check
    love "Blackbird"=check
    Beatles fan=check
    BIG smiles......
    happy day.

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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