a bird flew away | poetry
poem
*You can check out my latest series about a nomadic traveller under the must reads section—poetry, fiction and article sections are available on my homepage.
a bird flew away
my family had this pet cockatiel
we kept in a cage
with a view of the garden,
in a living room where we came together
as a family of six—ten
if you included the pets.
-
we included the pets
in all social gatherings,
a couple of ginger cats
who bit everyone’s nose,
a beloved bull terrier who farted constantly
and the bird.
-
it was more common back then
to own a tropical bird
with yellow crest that reminded us
of tribal Indians.
-
orange dots on each cheek
made me think of Pierrot clowns.
pantomime was a form
of entertainment back then
-
among the grey plumage
of middle England existence.
little—if anything happened
in a village of hard-working drinkers.
-
bird songs
we taught what we knew
through whistles and singalongs
on a Saturday night
not long after, the national lottery
had shattered another million hearts.
-
once a curry or chippy or Chinese
had settled somewhere deep
inside our bloated stomachs,
we would kick out the cats
and let Merlin fly free.
-
Merlin, he really enjoyed
shitting on us
and moving from shoulder to shoulder.
he would nibble on an earlobe,
wooden picture frames
pages of Albert Camus and Jean Genet.
-
anyway, he’s gone now
somewhere beyond the cage
we kept him in
for most of a decade.
-
it happened one summer’s day
after he was left on a patio
in our fenceless garden.
Oh, the end is so poignant and transporting. Also the farting dog, who doesn't love that? Hah!
Reminds me of the pet duck I had as a child. One day after coming home from elementary, I could not find it. My parents told me it had flown out the basement window (even as I child, I thought it was not possible that the duck had such aim and genius to fly out the basement window, but who was I to argue). Years later I found that it had not flown out, but had come to the fate of every duck during that time, he made it onto our plates. This poem reminded me of this long-forgotten pet, thank you :)