.
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We found a little box
with a speckled bird inside
and fed it bits of food
and water from a dropper,
until the day he asked
for a bigger place.
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And so we placed him lovingly
inside a gilded cage
with trays of seeds
and a wooden perch
where he could hop about.
.
“This is fine for now,” he said,
“but tomorrow
I want something bigger.”
.
We quickly built an aviary
with maple trees
and blueberry shrubs
where he could flutter
through the leaves.
.
“This is nice for now,” he said.
But after several days he asked
to wing about the house,
and finally out the window.
.
We watched him fly
through forests and valleys,
and finally up into the sky
between the stars, and out
beyond the Milky Way.
.
A year went by
and one day he returned,
asking for his little box.
He snuggled down to rest, and said,
“This will do just fine –
for I can see forever
from here now.”
.
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© 2018 Betty Hayes Albright
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Poem is from a dream I had last April.
The image is a partial of a print my late parents had – artist unknown. (Update – the artist is Jill Fogelsong.) The sun just happened to be shining through the window in a certain way, giving it a rainbow effect — which caught my eye. I wasn’t planning to post an image with this poem, but it presented itself just in time. Funny how things work out….
Seasonings 