Thursday, September 22, 2022

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?”