Survival: A Poem
A piercing cry
commands my attention,
eyes alert and searching through
the snow-framed window pane,
along sleeping branches
blanketed in frigid white,
rocked by arctic wind.
A bluish white flash
explodes before my eyes,
clinging to a swaying branch
thrusting and parrying
with miniature sword
striking with repeated force
at an unseen foe.
Tiny blurred wings
beat a rhythmic cadence
of palpable urgency
while sporadic cries echo
on the counter point rises
pierced body held in black beak
this blue jay will live.
