The Sparrow poem

The Sparrow

O may you escape all shackles

 and revel in liberty 

like this 

sprightly sparrow!

Roam about in endless space,

 swim across the whirling air, 

drink the measureless wine of the light 

that flows for ever from the azure sky!

O may you escape

Happily twittering and making love,

 building a nest beyond danger's reach, 

guarding the fledgeling hatched from the egg 

and giving it feed and fulsome care

O may you escape

Gather and feast on the remnant corn

 from backyards and harvested fields: 

then tell strange stories and sing and rest-

odw and rise again at dawn with a song!

O may you escape