writing_shadows

Thirteen Ways of Looking Like A Parrot

I

Amongst the ragged grey treetops
Beneath the cloudy sky
A sudden flash of colour.

II

Do you think me cruel?
Like a parrot
Tearing apart a butterfly.

III

I found a tale about a parrot
Sat on the shoulder of a murderer

IV

Father, Son, Holy Ghost
All one.
A man and a girl
All one.

V

I have seen many beautiful things
And rejected them all
But I still turn my head to look
At the colour on a bird’s wing

VI

The rain covers the window pane
The sky is weeping
Inside the golden cage
The parrot rocks back and forth
Eyes as cold as gold
Voice as rough as broken glass
Sawing at the air

VII

Oh! Stupid little girl
Don’t dream of happy ever after
Look at the songbirds shivering
Outside in the cold
Torn apart by the winter wind

VIII

I dreamt of marble halls
Vassals and serfs at my side
But I saw too
A multi-coloured little bird
Singing in the rafters

IX

What does the parrot know?
Does it see anything
Beyond the glory of its own feathers?

X

Come home, my little bird
Now the dawn is breaking
And I’ll wait for you, my darling girl
As the tide comes in.

XI

In his dreams he heard the blasted bird
Screaming his sins.
In the chilly morn
He could find little comfort
But lay in sickly silence
With his ghosts.

XII

The moon is fat tonight
The sun will be thin tomorrow

XIII

Dawn came early that night
Crawling out from behind the lamp post
To see its reflection in the river
And the sunlight shone
On the parrot’s feathers