I love my office for the windows
because just outside them
lives a community of birds
and I enjoy the show.
We’ve got blue jays, sparrows,
cardinals, turtle doves, crows,
and my favorite: the hawks.
A pair nest in the neighborhood.
They perch in lampposts and in trees
at varying degrees of distance to me.
Sometimes they’re so close that
only a few feet and tinted glass
divide bird and watcher.
Work falls by the wayside
as I watch with rapt attention.
The hawk does nothing exciting –
tilts its head, flaps its wings,
but I can’t look away.
Far too soon it takes off,
a dramatic surge of motion,
flashing glimpses of black and white wings.
Its cries bounce between the buildings,
before fading into the distance.
I pull back my now vacant stare
and refocus on my screen.
At the first hint of hawk, though,
my eyes will snap once more
to that inviting window.
