Purgatorial Perceptions

Purgatorial Perceptions By Mark D. Stucky In the basement, I heard fluttering sounds coming from inside the old chimney. Cautiously opening the clean-out trap, I came nose-to-beak with a panicked bird. Having fallen down the depths of the narrow furnace flu, it now lacked sufficient strength and space to escape through the constricted ascent. With gloved hands, I reached in to grab the imprisoned sparrow. It pecked and struggled in my grip because in its terrified mind mine were the hands of death, plucking it from purgatorial confinement to surely crush its desperate hope and condemn its soul to aviary hell. Carrying my captive outside, I opened my hands to the sky, and the set-free sparrow flew into tree-top liberty but without giving me even a thankful tweet. But can any mind fully comprehend crises as dangerous opportunities? Or that a frying pan exit path might lead through fire into freedom? Or that seemingly certain death could actually bring salvation? (First published in Agape Review, 28 July 2022. See also my poems “Consider the (Dreaming) Birds” and “God Around the Corner.”) (Image by Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay.com.)