As a Bird

2013 5th-6th Grade Poetry Honorable Mention

As a pigeon, I strut along the city streets, looking for food that someone has dropped.
As a bald eagle, I sit high in my tree, looking for prey, with a country on my shoulders.
As an osprey, I scout for fish in shallow water, waiting for a catch.
As an albatross, I soar on ocean winds, above the waves, not seeing land for years.
As a vulture, I glide over the desert, looking for the dead, my cry echoing on the silence.
As a swan, I arc my neck, strait and proud, King of the Fowl of Water.
As a turkey, I walk stiffly, plump and flightless, destined for the thanksgiving table.
As a duck I paddle, and stick my head beneath the pond, to eat and quench my thirst.
As an ostrich, I run across the savanna, fastest of us all.
As a parrot, I squawk, repeating only what I hear, in my cage in my house.
As a peacock, I swagger, showing off my bright plumage, vain as can be.
As an owl, I swoop silently in the night, hearing, searching for helpless mice and creatures.
As a bird I fly, deep in cloud or sun, as a bird I tweet and squawk, as a bird, as me.