BUDGIE IN A CAGE Michelle Rogge Gannon c. 2008 ================================= After she took to attacking the wood On the window sill and other parts of the house, Mindful of your house's resale-ability, You locked her in her cage, hoping this was a phase, And you could let her out again soon enough. You wanted to cry when she would flap Her wings in some strange form of indoor aerobics, Half crazed with being locked up. And then, for whatever reason, in the Silence of your barren house, she Bonded with the robins outside, singing Their songs. And in the morning, you Found that she had laid a small, pale egg, A gift to an invisible cock robin. You unlock the cage and resign yourself To chewed-up window sills and ragged curtains. But she chooses to stay in her cage now, Guarding her egg, Singing the songs of a robin, Staring at her bird shadow on the wall, Hoping. ======== ========