The Lightness Of Being Poem by Paul Clement Czaja

There are some birds that hop
Whenever they are on the ground.
Others step along
With very fast stepping feet
And stop a lot to look this way and that.
Big birds like crow, hawk and eagle
Take long, confident, proud strides
And seem to know very well
Just what they are about to do.
I like the hoppers best
Perhaps because I watched them
As a child and I am a child
Once again.
I still find them
Fascinating, funny, and full of frolic.
This morning
It was a perching redwing blackbird
That caught me up
And set me to wondering in amazement.
He was a good sized bird
There balanced on the tip of a reed
Without bending it at all.
How do you do that?
My very soul asked him:
Are you an angel in disguise?
Oh, red-winged bird,
You personify the “unbearable lightness of being”
And yet you are
Not even aware of such a marvelous feat.