the art of flying

Updated: Dec 9, 2018

murmuring
 
starlings, murmuring
 
the chaos and noise
 
each individual
 
scree screeching
 
into a cacophony
 
swooping so fast
 
my eyes can barely catch

then suddenly
 
they're away
 
and take shape

softly, slowly
 
shifting
 
pointillism in motion
 
making beauty
 
each bird
 
given meaning
 
in the whole
 
each bird
 
needed
 
needed
 
leading and following
 
in a constant overturn
 
of community
 
and support

predator so big
 
looms outside
 
at least double
 
in size
 
to any one of them
 
but they
 
with frankness
 
just keep swooping
 
making and remaking


murmuring
 
people, murmuring
 
the chaos and noise
 
each individual
 
prea preaching
 
into a cacophony
 
changing so fast
 
my mind can barely catch

then suddenly
 
in a wider gaze
 
society takes shape

(and in this
 
stanza
 
you may imagine
 
a parallel
 
to the birds
 
sweet softness
 
but this is
 
a point of view
 
hard to achieve
 
as I, too
 
am one of the birds
 
scree preaching
 
in the flock)

predator so big
 
looms outside
 
hate and divides
 
seeking to isolate
 
one person at a time

will we,
 
like the birds,
 
remain together?
 
with frankness
 
swooping, sweeping
 
t o g e t h e r ?
 
making and remaking