She had always been s i c k

The pallid white hospital room was where I usually went to greet her

She would s m i l e at me when I came to visit

It would always be a b e a u t i f u l smile

We would talk as long as the time allowed and then s a d l y part ways

But she told me she wasn't l o n e l y

For she had a lovely brown bird she l o v e d dearly

A bird held in a small silver cage that would sing b e a u t i f u l l y

I had o n c e asked her

"Why do you l o v e that bird so much?"

She would smile mysteriously and then say

"Because this b i r d is just like m e"

When I asked her what she meant, she would n o t speak more of it

I always thought it had been because like that bird, she was always h e r e

In this pale white and sterile room, only able to speak to me

But she would shake her head and keep s m i l i n g

When I would leave, everyone would whisper

"Poor girl she could have been so much more"

"Poor girl she could have been h a p p y"

"Poor girl she must be l o n e l y"

It made my blood boil

Because I could not even g u e s s what she felt

Then one day, her b e a u  t i f u l smile f a d e d from my world

The funeral came and went quickly

I did not shed tears because I did not want to r e g r e t the time I spent with her

I went to the hospital one last day to see if her things had been taken care of

It was a shock to see the bird in the silver cage still there

It had been her last wish to have the bird taken care of and given to me

Her prized treasure, she had given to me

The bird sang to me s w e e t l y as I opened the silver cage

And moved it to the edge of the open hospital window

With a hop, it landed onto the sill, but as I moved away it c r i e d to me p i t i f u l l y

The bird had not moved towards the edge, but instead had moved closer inside

I placed the silver cage once again in front of it, and the bird jumped inside

It then began to sing again

That was when I had realized what she had meant that the b i r d was like h e r

I cried many b i t t e r and s o r r o w f u l tears

She had been much more s a d, than I could have ever imagined

For the bird could not fly

And a bird that cannot fly

Would simply

Be meant

To

d i e

Bird that Cannot Fly