Golden Crowned Kinglet

Invisible Killer.  Daniel Imburgia.

I found this beautiful little bird
Dead on the concrete floor
It had crashed into a large picture window
Newly installed and freshly cleaned
I warmed her in my hand and waited
While her Spirit decided if she would stay
I called her *'Lizzie' after Elizabeth Taylor
Who survived many near-death experiences

I prayed for Lizzie but nothing too specific
I wanted to allow space for her and the
God of birds to consider all voices
See the big picture so to speak
Reflect upon future aeons
Who am I to say who lives and dies?

"Golden Crowned Kinglets
Are an exceedingly tame bird,
Often entering human habitations and
Allowing themselves to be picked up or stroked."
(Audabon Field Guide To Birds)

For a hundred thousand years at least
Tiny Kinglets have been flying above these cliffs
Migrating up and down the west-coast
Over glaciers a mile thick and arid desserts
Evading terrible storms and hungry predators
Until men (sic) erected
Stupendous windows on this bluff

In human words the Kinglet's songs when
Flocking and mating translate as a
Very high jingling--'tsii tsii tsii' followed by a
Thin sibilant 'Tsieeee' that chatters toward the end;
'Tsii tsii tsii tsii tiii djit djit djit djit'

Each song has a purpose just as
The window on the bluff has a purpose
As some believe that "Nature has a purpose"
Or as one might speak of a being
Reckoned by what it chooses to see
And what not to

Obliged.