Poem: "The Language of the Birds"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the November 3, 2009 Poetry Fishbowl. It was prompted by jenny_evergreen and sponsored by janetmiles.

The Language of the Birds

In the time before time,
it was the birds
who first eavesdropped upon the gods
and learned to speak.

Being closer to the heavens,
the birds flew high
and heard what was never meant
for mortal ears to hear.

They snatched up the words
with their beaks and flew away
while the gods swore and the goddesses
swatted at them with brooms.

To their dismay, the birds discovered
That thoughts are heavy things,
And so they dropped the words
Here and there across the world.

The words fell and fell,
And wherever they hit,
They cracked open like oysters
And released the goodness inside.

But they were never quite the same
After that, and the language of men
Was so different that only the wisest
Could understand the birds.

Since then, the language of the gods
Has been left largely to seers and priests,
And the language of birds is bequeathed
To madmen and poets.