The Sunbird

  

The Sunbird  

The Sunbird

Arjun Janah, 2015 Dec 15th 

 
It was sometime before sunset,

As the afternoon wore on,

That the sunbird had been spotted

As it flew above the clouds.

And we watched as it descended—

Those brave enough to stay,

While the others fled, some screaming

That we all should run away.

It spiraled, slowly sinking

As it spread its giant wings—

And its shadow crossed the ocean,

As the song primeval sings.

How many generations

Had it been since it had come,

I wondered, as I watched it,

And my heart began to drum.

Around me, men were running,

As the bravest feared and fled,

For the sky was changing color—

And it seemed to turn to red.

The sun was strangely yellow—

By the sunbird’s shadow dwarfed.

In fear, I started running,

As a madman cried and laughed.

It seemed it was the ending

That the prophets had foretold.

But I lived, and I’m recounting

What I saw—who now am old.
   

But I was then a young man,

And I did not know of fear—

Until I saw that sunbird,

With its talons, swooping near.

If you ever see the sunbird,

You should swiftly run and hide.

If you're prudent, then in hiding,
Till it passes, do abide!

  

For that madman and some others

Who had stayed, when we had run—

They were taken by that sunbird,

As it rose above the sun.

    

We could hear them faintly calling

As it carried them away.

I remember still their voices

As I near my ending day.

   

That’s the story of the sunbird

That I saw, with these my eyes.

But some others, who are younger—

They will say I’m full of lies.

  

Believe them, to your peril,

Or hark to what I say:

If you ever spot the sunbird,

You should wisely hide away.
 
 

Crimson Sunbird
http://www.desktopwallpapers4.me/animals/crimson-sunbird-14183/

   

2015 December 15th, Tue.

Brooklyn, New York