IF NOT FOR STARLINGS

Irene Latham wrote a stunning poem in response to the starling video:

If Not for Starlings

Starlings swoop and swerve,
dive into the evergreen arms
of a cedar as if pulled
by the force of a magnet.
We watch as the combined
weight of a hundred birds
splits the tree like a knife
sinking into a loaf of bread,
bending the limbs
but not breaking them.
You’ve got to admire
their decisiveness,
the way the starlings turn
and turn again,
keep coming back
to the same tree,
its strength and flexibility
a certainty to them
but unknown to us
until this very moment.