If I Were a Bird
Yesterday I woke up early
went down into the basement
crept through the crawlspace
thumbed through dozens of books
looking for one line of poetry
to make me happy.
One lone cardinal perches on the deck.
The high-pitched note he sings
stretches to the Aegean sea
tumbles the walls of Jericho
speaks to an ocean of people
brings me home to myself.
Are you happy, little bird?
Do you sing because you are free
or would you sing even in a cage ?
Would you sing for the joy of the skies
the greening of the watermelon
the first fresh flush of elderberry wine?
Would you sing for freedom?
If I were a bird, I’d fly away
to those faraway seas and shores
I would sing melancholy for days
then I would sing poetry
for the little girls lost
those hunkered down in captivity.
7 thoughts on "If I Were a Bird"
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Love how this cardinal inspired this poem!
Thank you
All of this is breakdown.
“crept through the crawlspace
thumbed through dozens of books
looking for one line of poetry
to make me happy.”
So human. Drew me right in.
I LOVE this poem. I love how the one line of poetry and the one note sung by the cardinal both contain oceans of meaning and impact. The last stanza is devastatingly beautiful.
that first stanza…whew!
adore the questions in the 3rd stanza and the answer in the last stanza, especially”the little girls lost
those hunkered down in captivity.”
Such a smooth and gorgeous rhetoric here. I love the movements you make in scope and “looking for one line of poetry/ to make me happy.” Yes! to ”
“One lone cardinal perches on the deck.
The high-pitched note he sings
stretches to the Aegean sea…”
Thank you.