ARREST

"Look at the birds of the air." -- Matthew 6:26

Eight miles on the Tuscarora Trail
in elegant October
the hickories an occasional
canopy of gold

I plog along
left knee aching from
careless wrenching on ancient
limestone slabs on the ridge
where two counties drop away
on either side

Hawks and vultures glide
overhead silent as stones

Then in a tangle of vines
and scrub oak
there is dart and twit

I stop

I am accosted
accused
cursed mercilessly
by a bird half the size
of my fist

Wren