I Am Envious of the Sky Bird

It all began one afternoon The ground was hot and the world seemed bounded But up the sky the boastful sky bird glided gaily Enjoying the boundless splendour of the universe Huh! If only I had wings like that bird! The bird heard me, swooped towards me, and rose again Singing and laughing in high-pitched whistle What a petty display of arrogance, I wondered Now the sky bird looked beneath with disdain, like we can't fly Oh yes, we can't fly, but don't we own the world? What in the intangible air rescues in moments of need? But she still flapped and danced effortlessly in the air One day, I thought, we shall see the winner Now let's see how she survives this, The loud baleful thunderstorm is roaring And the angry cloudburst is shelving her suppleness There again the scathing cold numbing her bones I laugh as the humid air soak her plumes And with the ghastly dark night how will she see? With the restraints settle, expecting to go to her world, The little creature finds herself in my palms Bereft of wings and plumes, and happiness Now between you and I, sky bird, who wins? Then she chirps and say her last: "You are not the winner either, human For what on sky will you have when I'm away? It's the claws and wings, not the sky, that's my happiness The claws lift me from this shuttered world And the wings flap to carry me up So the wise you could spare my wings and claws And take the whole of the sky Or what's the world to me without the two?"