As I amble along my deserted neighbourhood streets
My senses sharpen in the silence
Usually so seldom experienced.... such a welcomed greet
Acute hearing to me is revived again for solitude and guidance
By the shrill chatter yet joyful chirping cheeps
Of staccato notes and plentiful myriad never to subside
Musical delights for soothing nurturing leaps
For the sanity of our minds during this uncertain period
The most uplifting trails of birdsong
Trilling out happily so sweetly yet unseen
As if to a young suitor or dusk's light's throng
This audible delight makes me further listen and glean
Then to find some grass to lay on to listen intently
To imbibe this happy afternoon's welcome embrace
Then invigorated most heartily after rest so pensively
To stride on again and meet the challenges
No alternative but to stand up bravely to face
Hearing these flying creatures so intensely
So bright full of nature's life
Still could not diminish the world's current dilema depleted defence
Astonishingly bestowed to humankind a deadly frenzy
Both on literal and anatomical abodes
A fate so unprepared for
Sent and spreading so swiftly deftly corrodes
By an unknown biological source
Life that is being lost in a virus nightmare
How many afflicted we cannot still predict
Its a monster of an unpredictable unseen force
Unexpectedly on turning I encounter
A shiny black raven
Usually seen as a fortress mounter
Looking forlorn depleted of strength
Stomach empty and craving
Seeking out food and a warm haven to tender
Jutting along the pavement foraging
For scraps and insects or if he is fortunate
A juicy nutritious unsuspecting worm
His life I ponder just as precarious
As we now find ourselves to be
His food always in short unsteady supply
Now we humans mimicking
His daily fear and strife to find
Nourishment for survival yet raven's path
More treacherous it's way to it is blind
Yet never for a second can the pursuit of it
Be far from his yet otherwise unworried mind
Birds and humans in unison
Bonded together in this
Added unwanted daily burgeoning stress
The length of it unknowing this causing undue duress
When it finally all dissipates and we find freedom again
For sure we will once again appreciate and treasure it
As before never known... yet alone gifted and owned........
Copyright Natasha Anne Kelleher 25th March 2020
