Poetry by Parker Caldwell
By Parker Caldwell
A boiled egg with pepper
slides across the plate
as I attempt to impale it
with my fork.
I rise from my seat
walking around the screened-in porch
with floorboards creaking underfoot
answering each step.
I look for the bird
happily chirping
its beautiful morning song
and flying around the trees.
A cool breeze
picks up fallen leaves
rustling and carrying them
across the yellow grass.
I see the bird’s nest,
a jumbled bundle of sticks
protecting a precious package
carrying new life.
Then I see it--
the American Goldfinch,
a bird living up to its
bright and beautiful name.
It swoops gracefully
between towering trees
dropping towards the ground,
then catching the wind to rise.
It lands back in its home,
resting its black wings
that carry its body
of bright yellow.
I lift my binoculars,
zooming in to see
the natural beauty
of this magnificent creature.
As the bird rests,
it cocks its head
facing me
watching right back.
I glance back at my breakfast--
the peppered white egg
with yolk as yellow
as the goldfinch.
Then I turn back
searching the spot
where I’d last seen
my golden observer.
But the bird is gone,
and I no longer hear
the beautiful song
it had once sung for me.
A shame falls over me
having realized my mistake
of breakfast choice
for this morning.
What must the bird think?
Perhaps it believes I am eating
the children of one
of their feathery friends.
But that’s irrational--
a bird neither thinks
nor imagines nor dreams
like humans do.
Yet why
did he look at me
with such glaring intensity
for that moment?
Perhaps there is more to birds
than we realize.
- Parker Caldwell, a high school senior, completed this work for a creative
writing class. Parker loves animals, supports animal rights, and has been a
representative for the school's environmental club in the past.