In feathers the color of dusk, a swallow,
up under the shadowy eaves of the barn,
weaves now, with skillful beak and chitter,
one bright white feather into her nest
to guide her flight home in the darkness.
It has taken one hundred thousand years
for a bird to learn this one trick with a feather,
a simple thing. And the world is alive
with such innocent progress. But to what
safe place shall any of us return
in the last smoky nightfall,
when we in our madness have put the torch
to the hope in every nest and feather?
~ Ted Kooser, “Nightfall” in Kindest Regards: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, May 8, 2018)
Image (edited): featherthenest.com
Live & Learn 
amazing
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It is!
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
…. and now for something beautiful, nice and soothing!! Very badly needed!!
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Yes. True!
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love to imagine, “the world is alive
with such innocent progress” and breathe more sweetly…
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Yes….breathe more sweetly. Right there.
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Sheer beauty in image and text! Thank you.
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They are!
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Oh Ted, you know not what truths you speak…. Stunning….
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He does, doesn’t he. Amazing.
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Such a dreamy image.
And so true ❤
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Yes…
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Oh, that chilling conclusion!
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Isn’t it though?!?
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