Wild Birds

In a world before maps, holding breadcrumbs of courage,

we ran into the day —

trying to catch wild birds with our tiny bare hands

and an open-door cage.

Like many adventurers, I soon discovered that fate

wasn’t always a friend.

Under swaying trees, gravity conjured the scar on my knee

and a lesson remembered:

That the wild birds belong to no one.

And the child learned Nature will humble us all in the end.

We sat on that stone by the ocean for years without fear,

without thinking at all.

We cried at the news that it became a burial ground

when the sea came to call.

That night, the seagulls were glowing like angels sent down

to comfort our souls —

with the moon and two new burning bright stars aglow on the waves

eternally rolling.

And the wild birds belong to no one.

And the tide turns forever, finding us all in the end.

Are we the only ones who don’t understand

we’re but shadows upon an eternal land?

Are we the only ones who don’t understand

we’re but shadows upon an eternal land?

Weaving through miles of darkness and canyons,

in need of just getting lost…

to find us a place we could patch up our hearts

where no one would tally the cost.

Down by a crystalline river, a broken-winged dove

sat alone on the bank…

We kept watch until nightfall, but knew it was out of our hands —

some things we can’t make right.

]

And the wild birds belong to no one.

And the wild birds, they live the language of Letting Go.

The wild birds belong to no one.

Oh, the wild birds can show us everything we need to know.

Written by Halie Loren

© 2017 Jammin’ Salmon Music (ASCAP)