Precious Life

A group of birds really quite upset just out my window
A pair of Robins desperately trying to save their fallen chick from a crow furiously attacking
Already too weak to cry, blood in its beak, unable to do more than flip over on its back as I approached  
I knelt and picked him up, nestling him within my cupped palm
His breathing was hard, labored, heart beating against my skin
His terror soon quieted as he realized he was cradled and protected and warm
His parents crying for him just above in the trees, refusing to leave, and yet oddly not attacking me as they had the crow
Warm in my palm - I gently covered him with my other hand
He heard his parents and was reassured, though he was not to live
We were like this for awhile - slowly his breathing quieted
His eyes closed - only to open wide in response to his parents calls and then close again. He tried to call - could not
He was warm and safe and he knew his parents were close when he died
I placed him under a bush in a cupped pile of leaves - soft
His parents knew
All was quiet
A life - gone