OUTSIDE ONE MORNING

a pair of grackles on the lawn becomes three
foraging they strut and bob
intention focused solely on need
and survival

while I sit focused only on the writing of
this poem in my mind
giving no immediate thought to basic needs
and I

I can't maintain anything like their level of concentration
and I can't even rise on the morning breeze
and float to the nearby treetops
frustrated I give up and go inside to try to finish