Blackbird--By Joanne Olivieri, United States

Blackbird

He teeters softly

balancing unconscious

upon fog dampened phone lines.

Feathers his garment,

he awakens to windswept mist

and shattered street scenes below.

Emerging from his protective quarters

inside himself, he spreads his wings

and surveys concrete organisms

below his perch where the cumulus

provide a warm, safe haven.

He flutters haphazardly on broken

streets surrounded by industrial obesity

in search of discarded

morsels to satisfy his hunger.

Innocuous in his size he is not noticed and

therefore not seen, though rises above it all

naturally gifted

with wings of freedom.

(first published Stanzaic Stylings)

Joanne Olivieri is a San Francisco native.  She is a published poet and photographer. Her poems are published in numerous magazines and ezines. Her poem, "Symphony of Lights", was chosen as one of the Entries in the initial round of the Cathay Pacific Airways - 100 Reasons We Love Hong Kong contest, July 2007-. She won a round-trip ticket to Hong Kong for her winning entry.