A Musical Flight

2/8/22

A fledging peach-faced love bird anxiously 
surveils his surroundings on the edge of his perch.
The nest, once a source of comfort and purpose,
has become a nightmare of craven terror.
The drop down from the tree appears daunting,
but if he doesn't jump, he'll never learn to fly.
Nerves engulfing every inch of his fragile body,
He closes his eyes and pushes off the nest 
to fall to gravity.

His wings spread out and flap frantically in the air
but the wind betrays his amateur form of flight.
He descends faster and faster 
as his heart beats faster.
Finally the ground meets him with utter indifference.
His light body bounces off the earth until he stops still.

Alive. Breathing. Seeing. Hearing... 
Alone and trapped.
No way to climb back up his tree, not yet able to fly,
panic overwhelms him with dreadful trepidation.
He wonders if he'll ever be able to fly.
He wanders around for what feels like years.

Sleeping in the cover of bushes 
and eating anything he can find,
The fledging bird accepts his fate 
of terminal isolation, believing he 
is worthless and permanently broken.
He tries hard to hone his wings to soar to the sky
and after failure and failure, he stops trying.
Living in constant fear & shame, his spirit breaks.
Lying on his back, staring at the sky he'll never explore,
a stunning nighthawk glides effortlessly above.

The nighthawk was singing a song so beautiful
that without noticing, the stranded love bird
finds himself singing a perfect harmony.
Quiet at first, eventually he projects his song
out to the gorgeous nighthawk.

With a magical grace, 
the nighthawk smoothly turns around and lands 
on a low branch of the tree closest to the love bird.
She begins to sing again, but this time for only him.
Shivering with nervous hesitation, he starts singing along.

The two birds share a long night of wondrous joy and connection. The next night, the nighthawk returned with a freshly caught mouse. With great generosity, she gave him the food, for it was hard for him to hunt. Together, they began to sing: new songs that sent shivers down their feathered bodies. Still full of fear and shame, he doubted himself and held back his feelings. That night, the musical duo spent the time lying next to each other. She gave him a feeling of hope and confidence he hadn't felt in years. Slowly, after many more visits, he had this strangle feeling that maybe he could fly. She believed in him and always encouraged him with compassion and pure hope.

So, with heavy self-doubt, 
he begins to practice flying again.
To his amazement, he was able to 
climb the air in short bursts,
always falling down after getting so far. 
It was a confusing emotional dilemma.
On the one hand, he was having spurts of success,
but he always ended up failing -
falling hard from the sky. It hurt his confidence. 

The nighthawk, however, never wavered 
in her steadfast belief in him.
She gave him courage and hope again.
While he still struggles to find faith in himself, he
felt true love again after years of loneliness. She
inspires him to grow and have hope. He has not yet
mastered flying, but for the first time, he actually
believes it's possible to fly higher than ever before.