SOLITARY BIRD

I don’t want to be here any longer.

I am growing weak, while others grow stronger.

Nobody shows any concern,

Like a raging fire, they live and burn.

I just want to go away

Where people smile and children play,

Where life is just, where I can fly

Like a solitary bird high in the sky…

The conditions of a solitary bird are five!

The first that it lifts its beak to the heights of the skies.

The second that it flies to its highest point.

The third that it does not suffer from company, even of its own kind.

The fourth that it does not have a definite color.

The fifth that it sings very softly.

San Juan de la Cruz, “Dichos do luzy Aror.”

Original poem by John Pouch, April 24, 1980