Backyard with Beaks and Bugs

NaPoWriMo 2025, Day 18

Mid-April morning sun cascades over the East-facing house
Making landfall in the back third of the yard.
From the brisk shade of the back deck, I watch its slow crawl toward me.
Birds herald the advent of the weekend in inharmonious song.

Insects are still hiding out, or perhaps not yet awake.
Dancing clouds of dusk-lit gnats won’t arrive until evening,
Gathering above raised beds of herbs and vegetable starts,
Nervous excitement building toward an epic silent rave.

For now, cawing crows dominate the dew-damp air,
Calling and responding from blocks around, while
Blue jays, pigeons, hummingbirds, and woodpeckers
Start the day more gently from the shadows.

It feels good in moments like this to remember
That I am just another creature in the ecosystem,
Not at the top of some bullshit anthropocentric diagram.
I am content to sit, admire, listen, and learn.