Diana Darby ** "I V" ** Intravenous

Bird Girl

The cardinals outside my kitchen window
are busy.
They don’t have time to argue
over flying versus driving
or what the realtor said or didn’t say.
From the first light,
they are up and out
hunting worms for their bald babies.
I watch them day after day,
one bringing food,
feeding open mouths
while the other is off gathering more.
They do this hour after hour
from sunrise to sunset.
I wonder how they keep from collapsing.
We complain about the smallest inconvenience
and we have everything right at our fingertips.
We want something to eat
we go to the grocery store,
or to a restaurant,
or to a fast food place.
We don’t have to scour the ground
in search of movement
and wait till the coast is clear to feed our young
or ourselves.
Our lives are ones of instant gratification,
and yet,
I would rather be a cardinal.
I would rather not be burdened with telephones
and televisions and email and infomercials.
I would rather not worry about my IRA or my retirement
or whether or not some critic liked my last album.
I would rather spend my days in flight,
in the present,
with nothing to keep me tied down.