A Quaker parrot Photo: Photo: Life Lenses / flickr CC
A bird meditation
Poetry: A bird meditation by Michael Searle
Why did you come?
Why did you come here?
I came because nothing is asked of me here,
but to just sit. Just sit quietly in silence.
Yet everything is asked of me here,
as I open my heart and mind,
in shared worship.
Why did you come?
Why did you come here?
I came because I was a bird in flight,
crying a note of alarm…
looking for a branch to perch on.
My feathers all ruffled
by the storm around me.
I came seeking sanctuary,
and peace of heart and mind.
I came to find acceptance.
A home where I could be myself again.
And now I have perched so long I am at home
with myself, and with others.
But my wings flutter,
and I rise in half flight…
my cry of alarm different now.
Till I hear a relaxing voice.
Till I remember that it does not matter what others believe,
but what I do.
