"Poem for a pet bird" by Jan FitzGerald from ONE

Poem for a pet bird
(Mohua, budgerigar)

The light of the house has gone,
broken at the bottom of a cage
on a grey winter's morning.
No more yellow bird
reciting the alphabet,
asking if we'd like a cup of tea
and mimicking the pouring.
No more Hokey Tokey on a perch
or Eric Idle imitations.
And the weasel has really popped.
We shuffle room to room
finding gaps everywhere
small enough to swallow us
like children looking for a charm
missing from a bracelet,
which we know we'll never find —
a wicked fairy has taken it.
In the garden
a small grave covered
with silverbeet and millet sprays
might prompt a stranger
to say, It was just a bird!
as a flock of handkerchiefs
flaps on the line
and a scarf of swifts
binds the day's fury.

Copyright © 2025 Jan FitzGerald All rights reserved
from One
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission

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