The Bird's Song

 Once upon a time a bird flew to the top of a tree and began to teach herself a new song. It was one of love and kindness, an ode to the beauty of a world at peace.

            But the words stuck in her throat.

            Hour after hour she tried to sing her song, a gorgeous melody of joy and laughter that welled up in her mind’s eye, but no matter how hard she tried to offer the tune, it caught in a stunted way over and over, until she began to choke.

            Recognizing the futility of continuing in such a way, she rested awhile, and then slowly allowed a melody to take its own shape.

            At first it startled the bird to hear the sounds of mourning that emerged. Sorrow followed, delicately shaped by weighted sadness. As the notes began to blend, a dirge came forth that told of hardship and anguish, heartbreak and loss. So sorrowful were the tones, that as she sang, she herself began to mourn. And so striking was her lament, that the world mourned with her.

            It was the honesty of her song that taught the world to grieve, and in that grief was born peace.

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