Motionless, cold, shrunk thou liest
Thy color faded, thy once gay feather-garment mutilated,
They senses gone, thy pulse stopped,
Thy warm blood cold, thy loving mother-heart stilled,
Thy sharp circumspective moment-glimpsing eyes closed,
Thine upright proud head, now drooped and sunk
Thy quivering sensitive claws now shriveled and tight and numb,
Thy beautiful wings thy greatest power,
Thy beautiful wings thy greatest force,
Thy beautiful wings that carried thee on the winds,
Thy beautiful wings made thee queen of the air and space,
Thy beautiful wings fluttering countless times a moment
Thy beautiful wings now lie limp and closed.
From thy trees death hath taken thee,
To this lonely and unvisited place.
Thy babes thou untimely left behind thee
Are now in wonder of the everlasting wonder
I know they cry for thee in thirst and hunger
And in fear they wonder what hath o’ertaken thee.
No more thy song, no more thy laughter,
No more thy call, no more thine answer,
Oh dead silent bird, I hear other birds sing,
With whom in innocent company of thine own kind,
But a while ago thou too hadst sung.
Oh dead bird I hear other birds sing,
Whether ‘tis song of glory or song of death,
No one but thou couldst tell me.
Oh dead mute bird I feel thy sisters call thee,
But no one here for thee can answer them,
That their ardent call is in vain.
No one but thou couldst answer them,
That a million will come and live after thee.
Oh dead cold mother bird,
Alone dead, here alone thou liest
Thy sisters sing and in glory sing and call,
But no more shalt thou return.
Then adieu for thee oh dead bird to a new beginning
Thy life that has been is not ended.
Thy death is but a prelude for another form,
Which only destiny contains,
And thou oh dead bird, as all,
Helpest with thy life and death,
To make for thy rhythmic form of the infinite.
And though dead thou art now,
Thine having been will always be.
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That's a beautiful poem - thanks for placing it here to be read. As I said below, your image is very befitting. edit: oops, apparently I didn't say it below - but I have said it now.
Never thought I would actually appreciate a shot of a dead bird, but the way the leaves are posed to hide his eye feels respectful. Composition and lighting work very well. And I like the sentiment of the title.
I really love the spotlighting on him. I would have moved some of those leaves though, especially the one obstructing his face. I understand though that his eyes may not have been in the most attractive condition, since the eyes start to degrade quicker than their bodies. Anyway, the leaves do bring a wee bit of colour to the shot. I love the title, very poetic.
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