Yesterday the bluebird left my chest
and stopped singing aloud for all to hear
the same bluebird Bukowski hid
behind his toughness
I wandered through the hospital
waiting for the next test, the next injection
and it all seemed so fieldless – no sky anywhere
the doctors, new interns, rushed up
one set of stairs as the others went another way
it reminded me of a flock without a destination
and I asked myself, “how did I end up here?”
“how did I end up here?”
no one answered me, not the nurses
not the doctors who rushed about
but I didn’t talk above a whisper
I didn’t really want them to tell me how
nor where it was I’d be going
Sitting in the cafeteria, a woman
in a blue hospital gown with no hair
seemed far away
maybe we were somewhere together
a place we both knew but never spoke about
to anyone but God
maybe the bluebird in my chest went there too
Then, as if its wings of flight caught my soul
I felt a flutter in my chest again
for no apparent reason
just the sight of sky and snow
falling over city buildings
I asked myself again, “how did I end up here?”
this time the bluebird answered
“to understand the way it feels when the bluebird leaves”
Photo Credits
Photo from Pixabay – Creative Commons
Please Share Your Thoughts - Leave A Comment!