Each bird is carved into existence by God         
Each feather is hand painted by Him
From the royal blue of the Hyacinth Macaw
To the blinding yellow of the Goldfinch
From the emerald green of the Quetzal
To the deep blood-red of the Scarlet Tanager
Is it these colors
That make birds beautiful?
For even without color
A bird has beauty

Picture the setting
Its soft light consuming colors
Creating silhouettes
One silhouette takes form
It is snapped from a cliff
Yet it does not fall
The shape changes
Two wings stretch outward
They remain motionless
Slowly the bird rises
On invisible thermals
Slowly it grows smaller
Until it disappears into the painted clouds
What bird was it?
I saw no color
And still it was beautiful

Copyright © 1990 Jody Hildreth
All rights reserved.