Heidrun Beer: Poetry

 

Explain That...

25.06.1982/13.01.2010

(c) 2010 by Heidrun Beer

 

explain that to the colorful feathery singer
that you so deeply
know him.

that you understand: the gracious wire cage
disfigures him more than doll clothes would
disfigure a kitten; his jubilating flight's
curtailed range mutilates him more cruelly
than the clipped feathering.

explain to the shy one how your house
stretches out over continents; how you built him a home
from forests, mountain ranges and cozy rock niches;
explain to him how all this is yours, and yet
solely his, as it was he, could be only he,
who elicited it from you: with the glittering flurry
of his daring feats; with the touching concern
for his so tiny, so precious nest; with his
heartfelt song.

explain to the featherlight, black eyed animal
the eternal truths of the soul! he will not come to
rest on your shoulder. he will be nesting right in front
of your eyes - maybe; or maybe entirely outside
the reach of your yearning glances: on the other side
of this globe.

and yet he still lives in your house,
and has escaped your holding not more
as if he were nesting right there in your hair,
and were mercifully taking his food
from your shivering hands.
 

 

 


 

 

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