A soft white feather off a sparrows breast
Landed on my lap.
And I gently picked it up
So careful not to squash and wrinkle the beautiful
Puffy Array of downy vanes arranged around its delicate quill.
As I looked closer, I tried to find the tiny hooks which connected the soft barbules together,
so they could stick to each other, creating the smooth surface treasured by all feather collectors.
This feather molted and was replaced by a new one to keep my sparrow
Warm, dry and camouflaged from harm.
As I was caressing this feather, my sparrow, fluffed up on an apple tree,
Was also cleaning himself, with his beak piercing between the barbules and rearranging his feathers again
Into a strong surface which could carry him high into the sky.
As he cleaned himself he looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in his eye,
As if to say:
"Take care, for I still have a journey ahead of me."
And as I kept watching him, I was affected by his cheerful disposition.
I smiled back at him, secretly wishing him well.
As I lifted the feather to thank him,
Showing him my gratitude for sharing his life with me,
He flicked his tail and flew off into the horizon
As if in a hurry to reach his destination.
Sadly, left alone, I searched to find an old discarded perfume bottle and thought:
"Feather, your job is to fly. Not to be left behind."
I cut out a tiny cork ship which I slipped through the mouth of the bottle and glued it to the bottom.
I then gently pushed through the feather and set it up high and proud, into the deck, so it would sail and fly forever.
Once my bottle was securely sealed and ready to be viewed, I slipped a knot around it's neck
And hung it outside by the branch where my friend, the sparrow, could find it.
There it hangs,
Sailing through green branches, pushed by the wind, with no particular place to go.
Every day I sit on the porch, waiting and hoping to see my sparrow again
Every day his feather brings me joy thinking about him, the places he is visiting
This Feather of Freedom,
Off a sparrow's breast,
Is on a journey, to the far off west.
It will always fly
It has so many uses
But not enough time.
This Feather of Freedom
Touched me today
I wish I could use it to fly away
But my life is grounded and
I'm here to stay.
My freedom I found in a Sparrow's eye.
Who's chirp I hear up in the sky
A downy feather was his gift to me
And with this feather, he set me free.
A Lady’s Life
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