Within the Cage Part Two

(This is a sequel to my poem- Within the Cage. Part 1. and a true story.) I saw the Earth and its happy brood And everything around in a sunny mood But in my cage sat a single bird So lonely without a companion of her own breed Though the sky and its expanse to her, long denied In her narrow cage, she was never annoyed She had a partner to share her joy and woe With him, all else she was ready to forego There they made a haven unknown to pain Shut the door to wind and rain Sat together rubbing shoulders and preening feathers Never did they mind their freedom bound by tethers Now she feels she has lost her way With her mate absent to cheer her day With the break of dawn, once as she rose from sleep Lay her ‘man’ motionless like a feathered heap With her beak, she pecked and prodded him Went on nudging and poking, sitting on the cage’s rim But Alas! He didn’t stir or move She tried in vain but finally got the painful clue Sitting close to him, making a strange sound She made it known that her man would no more be around Never expected her life would suddenly take a turn this way And never ever thought her companion would thus slip away When his body from the cage was removed She beat her wings as if in sorrow drowned Thereafter she didn’t peck at the grains served And for days opted out to remain starved I thought her sorrow would soon end And his separation wouldn’t leave a deep dent But each day, gloom overcast the teary-eyed widow And she sat blubbering looking through her window Her lonesome state left me so agitated I didn’t want to see her any more isolated I let her fly into the freedom of the sky With new companions, hoping to see her soar high! Dec.24.2022