A Song Of Heaven And Earth Poem by Daniel Brick

A Prayer-Poem for Anna,
daughter of Emma and Angel

Dear Anna,
because people no longer listen
to the morning and evening concerts
of song birds, we have lost a glory
the was once shining in the world.
There was a time when whole villages
awoke before dawn. Families and friends
clustered below a wide opened window
and listened to the birds' carillon.
Some even went outside, wrapped in robes
and blankets, and sat close together
and watched the birds swooping overhead
until they settled on branches to sing.
People and birds were bonded in the sight
of God and His angels... But things change,
passions weaken, and most people found sleep
sweeter than song. A glory passed away from the earth.

The birds then put their faith in children.
They knew that children must develop
a very tough skin to live a human life.
So they began to sing songs which touched
their hearts before they were hardened.
Oh, how wondrously birds sing within
the hearing of children! And, hovering above
them in the Middle Heaven, the Angels are present...

Dear child, I will tell you a great secret:
Angels and Birds are cousins - It's true.
Some even believe birds taught angels
how to fly, that cannot be true. But they
surely taught them to sing! And for ages,
the songs children sing joyously on earth
the angels repeat in heaven. There is always
a column of song raised by children, then raised
higher by birds and then even higher by angels.
Finally, this song enters the perfect
silence of the highest heaven and reaches the hearing
of the Lord God, the Creator and Protector of the Universe,
who loves the angels and the birds and the children.
With equal fervor His Love unifies earth and heaven. Amen.