caritas...

watching
birds
saves lives
as sure
as water     in ponds
saves fish
to embrace
with eyes
the vital force
that fuels
the beating heart
of creatures
so vulnerable
at every turn
the person
who wrote:     "look
at the birds
of the air: they
do not sow
or reap
or stow away
in barns"     never
watched a bird
closely at all
ever not even
once      birds
sow more
seeds in a short
and perilous
lifetime
than most
farmers do
in a year
and they     reap
and plan
and stow away
in barns
                          and rise
no matter
the wind
or the weather
or the wound
if they are not dead  
they rise
till their last day
as they did
on their first
day with hope
and song
and a deep
and righteous
longing for more...


Lucy Meskill