Reflections

Monday, May 16, 2016 – Fly High

38 Comments

Carol A. Hand

Sweet bird, fly high
Taste the wind with your wings
Fly free in the blue sky
while the one left behind sings
of the times we’ve shared
and the joys we’ve known
of the places we’ve traveled
and the places you’ve flown
Almost always caged, now you’re free
Your empty shell at rest beneath the crab-apple tree
as your brave and blustery spirit tonight
soars aloft in your forever freedom flight

bud and queenie 2

Farewell dear and faithful little friend

Note: This is a poem for my little parakeet Bud, the light blue bird on the right. He has been with me for eleven years. Today, he died doing what he most loved to do, flying fast and high. This time, his landing wasn’t gentle. I held him next to my heart and sang the beginning of this song as he gently closed his eyes. I worry that his partner, Queenie, will be lonely, but for the moment he is singing.

***

Copyright Notice: © Carol A. Hand and carolahand, 2013-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Carol A. Hand and carolahand with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

38 thoughts on “Monday, May 16, 2016 – Fly High”

  2. Awww Carol, I am sorry that you have lost a sweet friend…. I know how precious these little creatures are to you. On May 16, 2016 8:45 PM, “Voices from the Margins” wrote:

    > Carol A. Hand posted: “Carol A. Hand Sweet bird, fly high Taste the wind > with your wings Fly free in the blue sky while the one left behind sings of > the times we’ve shared and the joys we’ve known of the places we’ve > traveled and the places you’ve flown Almost always c” >

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    1. Thank you for your kindness, Cynthia, and for asking such a thoughtful question. Loss is always difficult, but it also opens up the opportunity (need?) to reflect about what really matters in life. I wish I had answers about the more pressing health issues my grandson and daughter are facing right now, yet opening up my heart and allowing myself to grieve for Bud (and them) has helped me look within for strength.

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    1. Thank you for your kindness, Diane. (I do have a special – silly – song I used to sing for the birds every night when I covered their cage. Last night I sang it for Queenie.) ❤

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  11. I know the feeling. Had a pair for many, many years. Even had one imitating half a dozen words and phrases.

    Found one dead one morning, and the other, a year or two later, flew out the open door of the house and was lost. The birds spent most of their time perched on our shoulders, chirping their happy little hearts out, and how they loved having their neck and head feathers gently ruffled with a finger.

    Yes, it does hurt.

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  12. I had a parakeet when I was young. And when he was dying, I, too, held him until he passed. It was one of the hardest moments of my young life.

    Eleven years is a long time. I am sorry for your loss, Carol

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    1. What an an amazing child to show such kindness, Dave. I appreciate your thoughtful comments. (Little Bud was quite a well-traveled bird, outliving his four companions by many, many years, waking me each morning with his songs, and chirping loudly for attention when he was showing off his prowess as a fast, precision flyer.)

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  13. Pingback: Tuesday, May 17, 2016 – Reflections about Simplicity | Voices from the Margins

  14. Ahh Carol this is so beautiful and touching it brought tears to my eyes. I believe this body is but a shell that houses the soul in this material world. When the soul is present the body displays all the symptoms of life. When the soul leaves the body it is but an empty shell. The entity we knew and loved is no longer there. And yes, I believe all living things have a soul. “Almost always caged, now you’re free Your empty shell at rest beneath the crab-apple tree”

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