The Bird And The Hound
The bird had peacock blue and striking yellow feathers
But no she hates peacocks so
The hound was a sneaky little thing
With a yelp that melted hearts
The bird had anti-depressants for breakfast
Lunch and dinner
The hound griped every day
“You should be happy.”
The bird hopped on a leg everywhere
For she had a heavy sense of paranoia
That her friend the hound would bite her leg off one day
For the hound was a careless thing
The bird moped
For she lost her family to the war
She saw no reason to continue eating
And eating and eating
The hound was melancholy
He wished for his friend’s happiness
Every day he did
A hundred and thirty five ways to make her smile
The bird stayed in her nest all day
She had no strength left
She couldn’t open her eyes
There was stillness in the air
The hound never left.
He brought herbs
Sang her songs
Read her stories
He wasn’t prepared to leave her
He said
“There was once a bear in France
Who sat for an exam for an hour
And he only got B(ee)s!”
The bird and the hound didn’t find it funny
But they laughed anyway
The next day the bird died
And all was quiet
The hound wept for five months
“Don’t you know I loved you?”
This is not a love story
Nor is it a story about love
It is a story about life
Or at least I think it is.
