The prodigal parakeet’s return
Because the green bird has forgotten
the basics of aerodynamics;
because survival demands knowledge
of the world outside; bare, clashing earth;
because the bird wants a crème-cracker
the way it has been oriented;
because the cage has a smell of love,
vague, half digested grains and water;
because none understand Polly-wants-
a-cracker articulacy there;
the prodigal parakeet returns
unabashed, brazen; sits on the sill.
Afternoon cloud glides past five o’clock.
A bird wants a master whose voice it
can mimic so simply; does not know
you have left a lot of dresses but
your child, the album, checkbooks and cards
are with you on a lengthy voyage.
Open cage, empty couch, bald husband
reading the letter of unreasoned
passion, rage, the just cause etcetera;
Polly wants a cracker, says a bird.
Winter collapses outside. Return
and depart are desperate events.
© 2009-Copyright reserved Kushal Poddar (reprinting is absolutely prohibited, without permission)
haiku
crumbs of the crackers
a green bird cries
at a shadow
© 2009-Copyright reserved Kushal Poddar (reprinting is absolutely prohibited, without permission)
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Comments: 128
Thanks John.
Everybody want to go home again. We can't, it doesn't exist in the here and now.
Oustanding haiku.
The prodigal cocateil here, one flew the outdoor breeding cage once and the nest two days it poured rain, I went to get the post and there was a very wet and grey cockateil on the front walkway!
and depart are desperate events"
This is a tragic story repeated many times in literature, the protagonist unhappy with his or her life who tries to escape to what he or she desperatly hopes is a better world out there, and finding out that he or she is part of the problem and can't escape his or her low nature, abandons the dream and sinks into oblivion. It's the existentialist's fear of freedom. It's the fatalist's acceptance of fate. And, I suppose it's the supposition of karma. To me it's the saddest, most depressing, most debasing story of all. It's the defeat of the human will,; it's the antithesis of Romeo's "Then gods I defy you!" Quite effectively rendered, Kushal. I have read most of Morrison's novels, but my favorite is Song of Solomon. I'd rather it was the hero's fate to fly away.
So it's So Long Marianne... I never said that I was brave. Just like the Bird On The Wire I have tried in my way to be free. (Leonard Cohen)
Kushal, you've offered us a wonderful original work. Wonderful.
The prodigal parakeet
Thank you Vinod.
Featured in the Triple Name Club.
Poor parakeet. Just so lonely.
Thanks Denise.
(I just think birds in cages like that are creepy, anyway)
Love animals and Ku, you are a masterful mystical storyteller...bravo!
Glad to see you pa.
Thank you Cathi
lunch hour on the 30th
MySpace Comments
Thanks for posting to my group, Anythingwriting
Sorry for the generic comment but, I have tons of email to go through.
featured at Grass Roots Writing
with many thanks Kushal
Mark
But what is a crème-cracker?