My breath caught God,
When I heard again,
the report of the plague
that was striking
the little birds
and the recommendations
to keep the birds six feet apart
I suppressed a messy sob when I thought about
How your eye is on the sparrows
just like its been on ours, as we fumble
on the bird feeders, on the masks, on the vaccines.
Bird by Bird,
Piece by piece.
God, your eye is on the sparrow.
And I think for a while, mine will be too.
Even though it’s sad, and hard to watch
A bird plague is much more manageable right now.
And if I can manage a that,
Then I know you can manage ours.
Even if the light seems to be farther away.
Even if Olympics and uneven vaccine distributions and delta variations
and one step forward and two steps back seem to be the norm
even then, maybe I’ll remember that you know how
…to take down the bird feeders
so….
In your Eye. I think I’ll rest a while God.
and leave this half unfinishished prayer in your lap
while I fidget with the birdseed, and watch the birds….
Amen.