when pigeons coo

When I was walking to the bus stop today I saw a small pile of grey feathers and sticks on the ground ahead of me, and upon further inspection I realized that it was a tiny tangle of a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest and been flattened on the sidewalk. Its eyes were so big and dead, and even though it is a cliche, it made me very very sad to see a life extinguished so early. It is no way to go...smashed on to Amsterdam avenue in front of a hardware store.

Then as I walked to dinner in the evening I passed a group of pigeons swiftly and awkwardly prancing around in circles like they were wind-up toys. They were making a cooing noise. coo, coo, coo. It was a soft and round sound and it made them seem cute, even though they are dirty and may carry diseases.

I thought of how that tiny dead bird would never get to coo in his or her life, and how they never got a chance to do that strange dance.

Assuming it would grow into a pigeon I guess.