I just saw an osprey straining against the sky
And the perpetual pull of the earth
As she carried a small rockfish over the Chesapeake
Taking it to her babies waiting in the giant nest new this spring
As Ecclesiastes says everything has its time and its season
No nest, no babies, no image of beauty, no reminder of effort
And yet joy prevails in the simple satisfaction of what must be done
In its time and season
It is time we birth a new season of simple struggle and joy
A season no longer about us, but about those yet to come
The absence of simple struggle and joy
Is the absence of compassion and love
Let us love mightily as the osprey.
Photo source: kevincole on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)