Poem to the Editor: In response to on campus threats
“A Bird Keepers Credo”
sculpture design by Diana Shepard
November 17, 2017
Whenever I write poetry it usually has some relevance to a memory or what I’m currently feeling. So in light of recent events on and off campus I’d been pondering how I could help amidst all the responsibilities and tasks at hand, especially with finals coming up. At first the subject of the poem centered around people, but people are so complex and in the simple message I wanted to send, this complexity just wasn’t called for. Then I thought how can I relate it to our campus, what is the symbol that brings us all together on our banners, our sports teams, even our hashtags that #swoop so elegantly? The Osprey. This symbol of unity and this animal that carries out such a simplistic life of nature and nurture was the perfect subject for my poem that aimed to send a simple message of love.<
Within the aviary we don’t impede on bird’s flight
We don’t tie on weights of wrong, we only fan winds of right
We keep no pigeon, nor raven, nor canary, nor dove
Only ospreys here, whose tonal cry, the key of love
As they build the nests of their future nights rest
As they hold those dear within feathered breasts
An osprey need not the eyes of the eagle
To see with it’s heart that all birds are one and equal
Best,
Michael Lane
Fellow Osprey
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