The Last Song

The animals went away
Became extinct
Not slowly
But all at once
The people went hungry
Not from lack of food
But instead
From lack of love

It had been the animals
That had filled
Their hearts
That had healed the broken
And made better
What may have been good

But now
The hearts of the humans
Slowly emptied
They became dry
Brittle
Nothing more was left
To mend them

Quietly
A little girl spoke
Looked up from her feet
Into the drowning eyes
Of her mother

"Do you suppose
We can learn
To love one another?"

Its seems possible
Was the message
From her mother's falling tear

She grabbed her mother’s hand
Led her to the place
Where the birds had perched
Once before

Both sat softly
Eyes to the sky

In blew a breeze
Bringing with it an echo
An echo of a song
From the last bird

The girl let go
Of her mother’s hand
And quickly reached
Into the air to capture it

Smiling
She knew it was there
Caged

She set her hands
Into her mothers
Then looked into
Her damp eyes
And said,

“I want you to have it
It will warm you
And
It may fix you
If even for a moment”

The mother smiled
Took the echo in hand and
Thanked the girl
with a glance

She could feel
Its song
Dancing between
Her palms

And in that moment
She felt alive
again

Then
Slowly
Before it could fade
She raised her hands
To her chest
Parted her palms
And pressed the song
Of the last bird
Onto her heart

by me