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?”
