Something Beautiful – A Poem

Everywhere I looked, there was bleakness.

The skies were grey and overcast,

the air was heavy with moisture.

The people waiting at the bus stop

looked tired and worn out.

I looked around to see if

I could spot anything of beauty

but there wasn’t anything I could see.

Slowly, it became brighter. The sun

was fighting to break free of the clouds.

As the sun shone its rays

down upon us, everyone visibly brightened.

People smiled at each other, others

said hello. It struck me then

how much joy a bit of sunshine

brings to people, how beautiful

the light made everything.

I looked down at the puddles left by

the rain that had fallen

and saw something moving

within the surface of the water.

It moved away quickly but then,

as more people walked by,

it was back again.

I crouched down to see what it was.

I heard birdsong coming from the puddles

and, instinctively, cupped my hands and

let some water flow into them.

I watched the shape I had

seen flow across the surface of

water and blinked in surprise.

I blinked again when I saw

what I held in my palm.

A sparrow, tiny and slightly ruffled,

looked at me and I thought

I saw more of the water

inside of its eyes.

Seeing my curiosity,

it let out a gorgeous string of notes

and the birdsong seemed to echo

along the rays of sunshine.

It occurred to me then that

there is beauty all around us,

even on the most bleak of days,

if our eyes are open enough to see it.

The sparrow stopped singing momentarily,

as if it had been waiting for me

to come to that conclusion

and flew from my hand in a flurry

of birdsong and sunshine.