Michael Todd | + Follow Poet |
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Sue Bird

There is the old saying that if you open the door of a bird's cage,
then you find out if she is really your bird.
If she loves you, either she will stay in her cage 
or else she will come back to it again.
If she flies away, then she wasn't your bird to begin with.
Opening the door of the cage doesn't cause you to lose the bird.
It only demonstrates that the bird wasn't yours to begin with.
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I've heard you called Sue Bird by some,
perhaps because you like to flit about here and go there,
seemingly not wanting to be tied down
to any one person or any one place.

The old saying above does appear true for you.
After your accidents and surgeries happened
and your wounds were tended to and healed,
I made sure you could flit about here and go there.

And go you did, at times appearing to stay gone
but then you would return to rest up and cuddle up.
Afterwards, off you went again and again, until 
you decided not to return to the one who took care of you.

I wanted you to flit about here and go there
because I knew you needed to even though I missed you.
But, I always thought you would come back each time,
I never believed for a second that you'd fly away forever.

If I had made you into a "kept" woman
you would never have been happy for long
and I wanted you to be happy, even if it hurt me.
So out the door and into the car you went.

Eventually you learned how to stop,
stop caring deeply for those who had cared for you.
Those who have sacrificed quite a lot for you.
Once your wings had healed, nothing here would hold you down.

Soon you'll be able to fly even farther from our old nest
and flit about here and go there even more.
Your old caretakers will be a thing of the past,
the ones who cherished you and thought your love for them would last.

Perhaps you're just migrating north for a while
and will one day return to those who miss you here,
those who heard your Sue Bird chirp each morning
and your Sue Bird warble each night.

Or you have returned to your original nest
and this one was just a temporary place
to rest and heal before going back
to the harsher world in which you now live.

Please remember us and our caring
and the love we were sharing.
Be careful and safe everyday now
as you wake with the sun then fly high in the sky.

2/22/13

Copyright © Michael Todd | Year Posted 2013

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