There were a few poems I wrote about the blackbirds, but for me this one represents one of the more overwhelming experiences I had coming to Syracuse. I would go pick my wife when she got out of work around dusk. I remember sitting in the parking lot and seeing a gathering of birds flying out of the edge of town into the trees within the city. I saw that incident at least a dozen times; blackbirds would come into Syracuse and settle in the trees for the night. I was overwhelmed by the community of the blackbirds themselves and how they treated each other. I thought it was an extraordinary example for human beings to follow. Blackbirds wearing white references each life finding comfort in a city beneath the wings of each other.