A Lover’s Fable

His wings as red
as a British soldier’s tunic
at the charge of the Light Brigade,
I watched him dance along the branches
of the big pecan,
taunting the mockingbird
with martial song and trill,
summer-full of himself, black cockaded head
alert for squirrel and cat--
Until that frantic afternoon I found him
dragging one wing along the ground,
feathers crumpled dusty pink.

I lifted him, his light body hot against my palm,
and` carried him home with me
to a painted cage.
Time passed and his wing seemed
as strong as ever --
but I loved my redbird,
and when once or twice he sang,
I could not bear to open the cage.
The weeks went by, a lifetime to a small caged songbird.
But it was so sweet to have
this exotic creature for me alone!
Then, one day,
a mockingbird flicked past the window,
and I went to the porch and opened
the door of the painted cage.
The cardinal fluttered past me to the railing,
testing his wings,
lifting them to the leaf-tattered sunlight.
In a joyous burst of motion, he hurled himself
into the cool clean air of morning
and flew away.

Once I was like that cardinal.
I too was hurled to the ground,
left> stunned and vulnerable,
lost to my element.
We were from such different worlds;
yet, when you found me, you lifted me tenderly,
took me away from remembered pain,
and put me in a cage of words.
"You can no longer fly," you told me,
>"Your wings won’t hold you.
I want you here, with me."
Until, one day,
through carelessness, or guilt, or indifference,
you left the cage door open
and I found my strength
and flew away.

Sue Littleton has been writing for 50 years. Her experiences come from a sheep ranch in West Texas to the sophisticated capital of Argentina, and from 18 years in Buenos Aires to Austin,Texas. A college education is a wonderful thing. She graduated at age 57. Her poetry returned to her with intense joy and a range unknown before the mind-dazzling experiences of undergraduate studies.

Email:Sue Littleton

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