Birds inspire the fine art of writing

At dinner last night, my husband and I were sharing tidbits from what we were reading that day. He got up to get his book and came back to share several poems from Billy Collins' Ballistic. They were all fun, but the one that I've copied below was my favorite.

Ornithography
By Billy Collins

     The legendary Cang Jie was said to
     have invented writing after observing
     the tracks of birds.

A light snow last night,
and now the earth falls open to a fresh page.

A high wind is breaking up the clouds.
Children wait for the yellow bus in a huddle,

and under the feeder, some birds
are busy writing short stories,

poems, and letters to their mothers.
A crow is working on an editorial.

That chickadee is etching a list,
and that robin walks back and forth

composing the opening to her autobirgraphy.
All so prolific this morning,

these expressive little creatures,
and each with an alphabet of only two letters.

Perhaps I was thinking something along theses lines when I took the photo above of sparrow tracks in the snow. And a friend sent this photo to me of great blue heron tracks on a concrete pier after a recent bird walk. Words and images come together once again. Are they sending us a message?