A Sparrow's Tiny Departure

An almost eight year old at our house is now officially a free n' two wheelin' bike rider. So exciting, the side by side run, holding onto his bike seat, "Okay, Mom, let go!" And off he goes and goes and goes. While we were at one of our local parks enjoying the flat long pathways, we stumbled upon a baby sparrow. I walked past and noticed a tiny still bird not moving despite my closeness. The sweet young bird still had a few of fluffy little feathers of a baby bird newly fledged from the nest. My sons and I think she may have been mouthed by a bird dog also in the park.

My youngest son sat with the dying bird, laying some sticks flat around it. "What's happening, Mom?" he asked. I said the bird was letting go of its life energy.

Slowly and gracefully over the next fifteen minutes, this bird stopped breathing. The jagged breaths ended. Calm beauty remained.

I dug a small hole, my son gently pushed the lifeless body into it. We covered it with dirt. I am reminded of my dear Moxie. I think of my friend's good friend & family who said goodbye to their son this summer.

“to live in this world

you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go” 
-Mary Oliver
excerpt from In Blackwater Woods