by Leslie Anne Bustard

“as hawks rest upon air, and
the air sustains them…”  ~Denise Levertov

I keep returning in my mind 
to a bird I saw yesterday.

She sat still on the top-most branch 
of a nearby tree made leaf–empty 
by a late Autumn rain.

Of all places to perch, 
this bird chose the thinnest, 
loneliest twig.

With no other birds nearby, 
she tightly held her own 
     against the white sky. 

Her weight, 
or slight breeze, 
caused the branch to sway. 

With a tilt of her small head 
and ruffle of feathers, 
the bird looked side to side,

content, 
so far away from solid ground. 

I keep wondering—
Is this what it's like to
be a sparrow in God’s eyes…

peacefully perched up high, 
confident that letting go 
will not result in free-fall? 

I recall looking away for one moment, 
and then she was gone. 

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Leslie Anne Bustard is a writer, poet, and editor who lives with her family in Lancaster City, PA. She writes for Cultivating Project and Black Barn Online. Some of her other writings can be found at Calla Press, Deeply Rooted, and Christians in the Visual Arts. Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children, a book of essays she co-edited, will be released this April through Square Halo books. Her website, Poetic Underpinnings, contains her writings, podcasts, and the goodness of other people’s creativity.