Shebback (The Window)

A young girl looked beyond her window to the west
As the sun receded parting the world for nighttime rest
As this child gazed upon the peaceful streets below
A visitor came descending with a past of woe
In dropped a young bird from far up high
With a thud he landed on the windowsill helpless and unable to fly
His sickly eyes were ridden with the tears of a past so distressed
That it was inscribed upon his disheveled brown chest

Hello little bird, whispered the child
What brings you to me this evening? Have you come to keep me company?

Hide me! Cried the bird… save me from a bloody demise
For the claws of a cat will rip through this frailty
As he did my brothers who were eaten alive
As mother stood away helpless to the sound of deplorable cries
Oh woe, my mother had left me
Abandoning me tattered better dead yet still alive


The girl looked with pity upon her young bird, her new found friend…
A sorry sight, such a young creature he was – his feathers were torn and he was covered in dirt – he looked weary as he lay wilted upon the windowsill helpless.

His little wing was broken as were both his legs,
Most of his feathers were missing and his left eye was torn shut
Poor little brown creature, better dead than alive
Left to beg for security in the hands of a child

Where are your feathers? Asked little girl
To which he replied:
My feathers were frittered away by the passing of time.
Where are you from, little friend? Asked the curious child
And little bird whimpered his wretched story:


I am from the boarder of heaven and the sea.
I have flown a distance and time has left me weary.
I have run from the angel of death more than once.
Though she approaches in pursuit with her black cloak of mortality
To wrap me and keep me warm and give peace to me
Though with this peace comes a great uncertainty