The Little Bird

Piercing the snowy clouds,

Fluttering with scintillating passion

They travelled.

My feet, fixed on the ground, envied.

I wanted to be with them,

Flying, with my wings wide open.

Touching the sky, kissing the mountains

Breathing the earth, bathing in the rains

Carefree, as they were

They vanished in no time.

Dejected and lonely, I strolled ahead.

Wishing to be a bird, all the while

I wanted to ask God

Why had he been so unfair?

Endowing us, humans, with all the things

How could he forget to give us wings?

Absorbed, I went away

Carefree, you might say

For, I hit a rock - pretty hard

I toppled and fell on the way

While head banged on the road,

My mind swung amongst the stars

I couldn't care anymore.

With God, I was at war.

"God - the unfair, uncaring being

You're so mean", I thought.

I opened my bleary-eyes, distraught.

My eyes saw a poor sight.

There lay a little bird -

Mute, weak and hapless

As if waiting, for an eternal flight

She stared at me, blinking

Blank, as if life had reached its end

Taking her in my palms, I soared

I looked at her and in a go,

I threw her towards the sky

To see her wings, flap with joy.

But, the flight didn't occur

Her wings didn't flutter

Fearful, she came back into my hands

Frightened, she stared once again

I asked her, "What's wrong?"

She said, "Come with me. I'm scared."

I laughed and said, "I've got no wings."

"Wings aren't necessary." She replied.

I didn't want to argue,

So I laughed at her ignorance.

She turned morose,

Jumped on the ground,

Walked towards a cage

And locked herself inside.

Astonished, I questioned,

"Why? Why don't you fly?"

She echoed my words.

"Why don't you break the cage?" I asked.

The echoes follow.

Puzzled, I mumbled.

"I've no wings."

She said, "Wings aren't needed."

"Then what is needed?" I wondered.

"The will to break free." She said.

Stunned, I said nothing.

A surge of gratitude for the Almighty,

Came in a fling.

The little bird broke her cage

And carried me towards the sky

"Sky is where I belong,"

She said in my voice and vanished.

Mystified, I kept flying with no wings.

A little flutter inside my heart

Kept me alive and gave my first flight.

"Sky is where I belong" I screamed with joy.

The echoes follow, this time from inside my heart.

I open my eyes and sway my vision.

An isolated road is beheld.

I turn and look into the vast sky.

Piercing the snowy clouds,

Fluttering with scintillating passion

They travelled. But this time,

My feet, fixed on the ground, reveled.

P.S. There is a little bird inside each of us. Never ever dare to cage it. Because sky is where we belong.