By the Balconyside: A Poem on Freedom and Captivity | Thursday Verse No. 25

  There are those who leave, those who stay, and those that hold their places without question. Together, they shape a space where passage, permanence, and purpose quietly converge, and it becomes difficult to tell where freedom ends and design begins.

By the Balconyside

Photograph by Merve Orhan on Pexels.

An egg in the cavity of a maple tree

hatched a blue birdie, 

Two fortnights brought its plume, 

and off it flew into a summer's noon.

On the same eve, a chunk of bronze was quarried,

And to a faraway land ferried, 

To meet the master of fire, 

and be forged to her hand's desire. 

Then one afternoon in a tropical laze,

hung the bronze as an ornate cage,

watching a gentleman arrive at the master's doorway,

holding under his coat a tiny blue jay,

He scanned through her inventory,

and his eyes fell upon the ruby, 

adorning the crown of the bronze cage, 

swirled into place by a week’s long swage. 

With an exchange of a few gold coins and pleasantries,

He became the possessor of her finest work of artistry,

And thus, the cage and the jay’s iridescent destinies, 

were tied to the gentleman's Victorian balcony. 

For a summer, winter, and the glorious spring, 

The jay filled his study with its versatile zing, 

Some days jeering at his proud ignorance, 

Some days humming a melody of acceptance. 

And through all this volatility, 

The cage bore the jay’s initial hostility, 

Until one day the jay dissolved its rage, 

And made peace with the wire rods of the cage. 

And thus they hung pleasantly, 

For days, weeks, months, years and an infinity, 

Watching the gentleman turn his eyes away, 

To the increasing demands of his bachelor days. 

Suddenly, one day in early June, 

When the cage swung to the jay’s usual tune, 

A curious child appeared in her uncle’s room,

And tinkered around all afternoon. 

Soon the room was filled with endless “whys”

Until the brilliance of the blue jay caught its eye, 

Then the child remained on its uncle’s chair, 

and wondered how beautiful the jay would look if it took to the air. 

So on one fine dawn, when the mansion was quiet, 

The child freed the bird to its long awaited flight,

And lo! the blue jay became one with the azure sky,

But the cage remained eternally confined within the gentleman's balcony side. 

- Mercy Rebonica