What does a bird know about anything? The humans say.
They fly past us in metal boxes, eating chips and beer.
When we have seen but half the world, and settle in the sky.
We live in flocks and pray- and God has cared for us.
But humans sit alone and think, and guzzle stupid-drink.
We have fought all, the raptors and the cold.
The coyotes who follow, and the contagious old.
But what have humans fought?
Each other.
Lords upon the land, but stewards not at all.
Nor do your feet get dirty.
Nor do your hands touch blood.
What do you know of life?
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
This is a challenging poem, that is, you personify the bird so that it can observe, assess and confront humans for negative behaviors they take for granted. Once again your poem is characterized by precise language and sharp images of human misbehavior. Your bird is a migratory bird subject to the dangers of the wild. You incorporate this element of a life always in peril into the bird's speech so that it has an heroic quality. Human beings come across as slobs. Another ambitious poem.