Hopeless Sparrow

[atiguhya padma]

I was sitting there
On an uncomfortable
Thick metal bar
On platform nine.

The petroleum sun
Slowly turning us to haze

I see a group of people
Aged and comfortable
With their lives.

I’m dreaming
Of Leibniz’s best
Possible world.

Suddenly, my vision
Is rudely awakened
From internal reverie

Something falls from the sky
Drops like a lump of silicon.
Exclamations.
Words of concern.

The sparrow lies helpless
On platform nine
Its yellow rimmed beak
Hyperventilating.

It shivers in the heat,
It wills its wings to work
They only shake and flutter.

The old man
Picks up this new life
Its days running out,
And lays it in the shade
Of the gutter.

Something in that fledgling
Alone among strange creatures
Ignorant and fearful
Poured scorn on Leibniz
And the weakness of his
Feeling for things unseen,
For worlds of hope
Unknown.

[amuse]

this reminds me of one our county's poet laureate's works published in my jc's literary magazine.

i get the same lulled sense of sunbathing followed by a poignant reality check. very much like the style.

[Helga]

great.... I love it. so sad and just real sweet