We were sitting out
on the back porch
I'd noticed
that a sort of philosophic
banter seemed to help my aging friend
with his anxieties
his OCD
I asked him what he thought
mattered the most
in life

before dementia took hold
he'd been a teacher
high school principal
an avid bird watcher
now he needed
every ten or fifteen minutes
to check the front door knob
he was about to say
something in answer
to my question
when a flock of starlings
flew into a tree
some twenty feet away
he pointed to the tree
its branches quivering
with birds
and with deep feeling
even sorrow
in his voice
he said it's hard
to know what matters most
when they keep moving
moving around like that