Five minute free write - describe a bird

My arms stretch out until they can reach no more, fingers spread wide, feeling.

The wind is cold, streaming by my face, gliding over my back and under my chest. Each gust, each current, pushing me up and dropping me down. My heart flutters at an uncountable pace as I begin the hunt.

My stomach is small, hungry, always hungry. I am a killer, a hunter of things. My eyes search far below, along a smear of color and shapes. From so high, nothing is clear, except what I seek. A tiny flicker, motion, disturbance, my mind a spider web waiting for the fly.

The sun above warms my back.

Unnoticed in my search, my daily tasks of survival take precedence. Nothing is more important than what I seek. Each moment, each day, filled with that one thing.

A flutter below me. I gently pull in one arm and swing wide, peering far below. Again, another motion, brown on white, or white on brown, it doesn't matter.

I pull in my arms, take the wind from beneath and fall.

Down.

Down.

Down.

The wind pushes past my face ever faster. The descent is blinding. I go even faster. What I need to live is ever on the run and I must work to catch it. Speed is what I need to survive.

Plunging my eye catches another motion and I move my right arm just a bit, adjusting.

Then, spreading with all my might I throw my arms out to catch the air at the moment just before I meet the muddy earth.

My mouth finds what I had seen. Small, warm, wet with the things I need to live. I gather the life to my bosom. But, to stay, to wait, to enjoy my meal, is a trap. Eyes flicking side to side, ever aware, I reach for the sky again. To my home.

---

Why describe a bird when you can be a bird? I think that's a lot more fun :) I mean, imagine the experience of flying through the air, high above the earth, diving hundreds upon hundreds of feet with your wings folded, knowing that you'll be okay, in fact, that's what you need to do to survive. That daily struggle where failure means death, where your responsibilities to the world are so clear. Simple.

The human world is so complex...and I'm not sure if it's a necessary thing or something we feel that we need. The more you think about the interweaving of threads that are life and people the more you realize how utterly insane it all looks.

Industries on industries on industries. Relationships. Economies. Responsibilities. Politics.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but think about it

...our consciousness usually drops the input levels on that kind of thing in order for us to deal with daily life. I mean, think about it for a second. You wake up in the morning to an alarm to go to a job. Beside you is a loved one (hopefully), which is it's own tangle of complex interweaving...how did you meet, why are you together, how do you stay together, what responsibilities do you have to this person, them to you, are you still in love, in a fight, the list goes on and on. You slap the alarm...who made that? Was it American made, or in some poor southeast asian country? Were the people paid, is it slave labor? Which company manufactured it? What are their political stances? Do you agree with them, do you not? Your phone is sitting there...which, I'm not even going to get into... You throw back the covers and it's cold...which means maybe the thermostat is busted, or your significant other turned it down, or maybe there's a brownout because, well, who knows why. Have you started thinking about your work day yet? Who do you have responsibilities toward? Are you in the middle of a project? Several projects? I mean, I've just glossed over the thousands of potential questions within the first couple seconds of the day. How the heck are we supposed to figure out who we are, what we want, what we should do in an environment like this... And this is non-stop all the time.

But, animals, who are not so different from us, know exactly their place in everything and what they need to do.

It's crazy, when you think about it. What is civilization? Is it really that civilized? Or is it just an excuse for something else?

Or maybe I'm just crazy, lol.

Either way, hope you enjoyed the free write and hope you have an amazing day!
Michael

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