Reading Time: 2 minutes
A poignant and evocative ballad about a songbird, by Soumya, is about the virtues and vice of nature. An allegory for Different Truths.
The songbird trilled happily in the forest Her melodies were pleasant and true Her plumage was a feast for the eyes The rainbow would be jealous of her hue She could mimic all animals in the forest Her music was healing for the soul Her chirping would keep everyone happy And make a hurt animal quite whole In the dark undergrowth of the forest Lived the vile vipers and pests They couldn’t bide all this happiness And kept smouldering in their nests They plotted on how to kill the songbird Or at least silence her song So, they invited the hunter to the forest And did the lovely songbird much wrong The hunter wished to pluck the birds plumage To decorate the king’s headdress Or to make a trophy of the songbird To be stuffed and mounted in the mess Or eat the flesh of the songbird Roasted or grilled on the flame Or keep the songbird in a cage So, the music would bring the hunter fame Now the poor songbird had to hide No one heard her music anymore She had to cover her plumage In dark leaves no one would adore The songbirds happy chatter was silenced Thus, none in the forest would heal For the laughter and the music was missing Which was the vile pests ideal. Fear cannot make anything better A caged songbird cannot sing A dead songbird isn’t pretty We need to understand this thing All the denizens of the forest Are waiting for the hunter to go And for happiness to return to the forest And end this whole story of woe Songbird, please become a Phoenix And blaze all the vipers to hell Drive the vile hunter from the forest And bring back the joy in our dell.
Visual by Different Truths
