With Thanks to the Field Sparrow, Whose Voice is So Delicate and Humble - January 31, 2011

I do not live happily or comfortably
With the cleverness of our times.
The talk is all about computers,
The news is all about bombs and blood.
This morning, in the fresh field,
I came upon a hidden nest.
It held four warm, speckled eggs.
I touched them.
Then went away softly,
Having felt something more wonderful
Than all the electricity of New York City.

I too live with computers, bombs, violence, and a house that knows not darkness in the night because of all the LED lights from the various appliances.  Sometimes when I awake I at night and walk through the expanse of the house, I find myself loathing those lights.  Some nights, I start unplugging appliances so that the moon's brilliance has no competition.  Some nights, like last night, I wake to the Barred Owl call, which sounds like a crazy old woman in the woods laughing at human folly.   A smile comes to my lips, though in the darkness only I know the gift that comes to me - something more wonderful than this house with all its electrical comforts.

What gift comes to you in the night?