Sidewalk Skeleton

At first I thought it was a dried up milkweed pod. I just glanced quickly down and saw what looked like long white stems with bits of fluffy stuff stuck to it. But suddenly I realized that I also saw what looked like a bird claw. I stopped Sugar short and took a closer look.

Aw, how sad. There are two claws all shriveled up and brown, and the triangular shape of what once was a beak, clearly where the little head was laid back against the sidewalk. The stems are bones. It was so tiny I wondered if I was looking at the remains of a hummingbird. Poor little thing. It must have fallen out of its nest and been done in by another creature. How long it had lain there I could only speculate.

Sugar jerked on her leash, anxious to get going, definitely uninterested in the lost life that lay before me unheeded by the crazy world. Reluctantly, I moved on, deeply touched by the plight of the baby bird. The image stayed with me all day and well into the night as I wondered what had so tragically led to its demise.

I will never know. I mourn the passing of this tiny creature whose short life came to such an early and unhappy end. I sorrow for the unsung music the world will never hear and for the generations that have been snuffed out. At bedtime, I mention to the Creator in my prayers the little bird on the sidewalk so stripped of life and how sorry I am that our world is so inhospitable. I long for the recreation when such things will be set aright once again and little birds will live the long days intended for them and the air will be rife with joy and song.

Adieu, bitty baby. Adieu. You will be missed.