BLACKBIRD:

Today I saw your crushed little body on the road. Your ebony feathers glinting in the sun, shivering in the breeze as though still alive, & yet you were gone. Your vibrant yellow beak silenced now, robbed of your beautiful song. The spring breeze lifted one of your light feathers & danced it to my stilled feet. I bent down to pick it up with tears running down my cheek; it was so soft, so gentle. I will keep this little feather of yours as a gift from your spirit, your being, in your memory.  A lone little blackbird, crushed beneath a passing car; who knows? Who cares?  I know, I care.  You existed; you were here on this earth, so you counted. I want you to have a safe journey back to your original home. I want you to know that on this earth you have a friend who saw you live, saw you die, and loved you, me. Fly home free my friend.