Variations on a theme

Poem

Birds fly over the sky
People see them high, high, high
People go into town
Birds go down

People see them the ocean clear
They swim across the ocean pier
And when the birds come down into the sea
People put them in a cage

Lighthouse, lighthouse shine for the ships
They can’t see their way

Christmas cold
The wind has blowed across the winter snow
People are cold
Birds put their head under their wing and never sing
Until the winter is over
And now the sun is about to shine
It’s summer again for all the people in the world
The sun is shining brightly.

-Jennifer Heath, age 5


Another Poem

Birds fly through the sky, the clouds, alighting on whispers of wind
Beings below look up and see the winged songs, the winged spirits
Souls travel solidly and without purpose into town
The birds float down slowly and struggle against the confines of gravity.

People see the birds through glares and reflections on ocean waves
Their thoughts swim freely across the piers that violate the rhythm of the waves.
When the birds fall into the sea, when their spirits are dragged into the dirt
They are caged.

Lighthouse, shine for the lost ones, shine for the vessels with our being
We have lost our way.

Winter cold, Christmas cold
The winds of blackness have blown across the white winter snow
People are cold
The bird tucks its head under its wing and its song is halted
Until winter is over
Yet, now the sun begins its climb to the top of the sky, and shines
It is summer again for the lost souls of human and avian
The sun is shining brightly.

-Jennifer Heath Porter, age 37