Yes, I’d been gone a long, long time <br />In my soul and in my head, <br />A’praying the deadness would leave, <br />That life would flow in my veins instead. <br /> <br />Then one summer morn, <br />As if in answer to my prayer, <br />The Cally Bird flew right threw <br />The open window of my room, <br /> <br />& as if to prove the myth were true, <br />It gazed at me so steadfastly <br />& I returned its gaze - it came <br />Almost like a warning for me <br />To heed its magical ways. <br /> <br />Then into its beak and feathered frame <br />It took my fears and took my shame, <br />Arrested the anguish & the pain, <br />Chased the shadows from my mind, <br /> <br />Leaving me feeling I was sane. <br /> <br />Nothing was said, nothing was sung <br />As it flew away to Cally-Bird Land. <br /> <br />All I heard was the whirring of wings <br />As it carried my sickness out of sight, <br />Out of the darkness of my night, <br />Into the golden light of the sun. <br /> <br />The demons that had lived <br />In my head day and night, <br />Were mysteriously dead and gone, <br />Buried in the man-made grave <br />I’d been rescued from. <br /> <br />Yes, my soul was a’living, <br />My spirit shone, <br />It shone like the sun <br />& the moon & the stars in one - <br /> <br />I was back in this life, a'feeling <br />The joy as well as the strife. <br /> <br />No, there’s no need <br />To carry a gun any more, <br />‘Cos I’ve drawn myself <br />A spiritual map <br />To travel through life unafraid - <br /> <br />No longer unsure. <br /> <br />So I sing to the mythical Bird-of-the-sun, <br />I sing in praise of his magical ways! <br /> <br />Om! Om mani padme hum! <br />Om! Om mani padme hum! <br /> <br />Alleluiah! <br />Alleluiah! <br /> <br />Amen. <br /> <br />(Senneville, Canada <br /> June 1990)<br /><br />Philippa Lane<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-cally-bird/
