This morning I stumbled my foot caught in pause

This morning I stumbled, my foot caught in pause,

a small, motionless body, no longer a cause.

A bird on the pavement, stark against gray,

a reminder of fragility, of life’s fleeting play.

Its wings, once alive, now silent and still,

a fragment of nature, a heart left to chill.

I kneel down beside it, feeling the weight,

a moment of loss, a quiet fate.