The Empty Nest

Strips of filmy white hanging From the crook of a limb Catch the eye At first mistaken for The milky web Of a tent worm Closer inspection Of bended bough Reveals a small Round empty nest Woven out of sticks And strips of plastic Dangling down Initially delighted and awed By the inventiveness Of nature’s winged wonders To build a home for their young From any and all accessible Material on hand Then shocked - As realization sets in - By the insidious Pervasiveness of Perpetual polymer In the natural world Left wondering If the empty Plastic nest Portends a deeper Persistent loss Yet to come.