Black Speck
by James Couch
The chill of an early autumn morning
Ideal timing for a walk and clear my head
Liquid crystal blue to all horizons
Nothing spoils the sky’s perfection
No, wait. One lone black speck
Soaring at the limit of my vision
Descends and grows larger
Too big for a sparrow
A buzzard drifting slow lazy circles
Floating, wings spread on a thermal
Perhaps it thinks me the next meal
While I envy its freedom and flight
It glides overhead, circles me twice
Dark wings tracing shadows around me
As it seems to consider my fate
Then deems me unworthy and flies away
I curse the loss of my freedom again
Watching the ugly yet graceful bird
Melt back into crystal blue perfection
Above and beyond my prison’s walls
Artist: James Couch
Genre: Poetry
Bio: A senior at UNF, I’m finishing something I started yet never finished: a Bachelor’s degree. I’m now 56, and my life often seems a never-ending poem.
Piece: Black Speck
Piece Description: A reflection back in time when life was not going well yet still a few rungs above Hell.