“On My Porch Outside”

This evening, I am grateful for the birds’ company. 

Their evening songs are quite welcoming, 

even though they were not intended for my pleasure.

I am grateful that these birds in the trees above me sing,

whether someone comes to listen or not.

Perhaps they sing this same tune every evening.

Maybe if I were an ornithologist, I would care to find this out. 

But at the moment, I am not.

Rather, I am suddenly a very aware human on my porch outside. 

Still, the birds don’t mind whether I am aware or not.

Their songs will continue both day and night. 

I see a broken tree limb dangling some distance before me. 

I gaze at the clouds passing above me.

Now, the clouds rain down the lightest drops of water.

These clouds are uninterested in my smudged writing due to their rain.

Nature does not care.

Nature does not mind.

All it does is move with time. 

Yet I am grateful for its company this evening.