October 2021 Flash Lit 2: A Bird in the Hand

Salt Marsh Field Trip, Circa 1978

 

Bird’s heartbeat,

so light and fast and

warm feathers against

my dirty palms.

The bleak salty mud

suddenly glorious with—

with what?—

life, maybe, or beauty.

Ranger releases the little

bird back to the sky.

The fourth grade gasps

as it vanishes.