I once read
a paragraph in a book
that’s stuck like splinter
in the grey of my brain
in essence it said
that we look at fish in water
we look at birds in the sky
and see them as free
but that they are not free
for they are slaves to instinct
spending their lives
searching endlessly for food
for mates
or safety
I once thought this was
some profound truth
but today in the back yard
in some miracle of fifteen minutes
between work
and getting ready
for work tomorrow
I look up at two
wide winged birds
circling lazily in the hot April wind
and I realize all life
must eat must love
must try not to die
but that doesn’t make it
any less free
for all us humans do
is an abstraction of this
some multi step
over intellectualized
means towards the same end
and I look up at the birds
jobless, debtless
no rent or bills to pay
just the thermals to float
between meals and mating
and they seem freer than me