Magpie

A man shot a magpie on the wing.

It fell with a broken wing.

The nock snapped the bow’s string.

The man gave the bird to a priest,

Who nursed it to be released,

Then decided to keep it in a cage.

To release its gale force outrage,

The priest split the magpie’s tongue,

Expecting to hear a terrible song.

Instead he heard nothing but words,

The speech of Man, not birds:

His own prayers and curses,

And profaned Biblical verses.

The altar boys taught the magpie

To ask of everyone, “Why

Weren’t you shot from the sky?”