The Imprisoned Parrot
It pecked at the metallic bars
whose cruel gleam was tantalizing.
It uttered a piteous cry
and looked out with longing eyes
at the vast open world around,
its eyes resting enviously
on the sparrows flocked upon a tree.
It screeched and screeched till its throat dried,
but its captor showed no mercy.
He spat at the bird to quench its
thirst, and overcame its mournful
tweets, by calling “Parrot for sale”.
by Shehnaz Somjee
–from Sometime Somewhere (1977)
