Beauty And Talent Poem by Raymond Farrell

As I sat
Under the locust tree
Early this evening
A bird I had never seen before
Came to rest
On the top rung
Of the old iron fence
I have not seen a bird
With such exquisitely beautiful markings
Since I have arrived in China
While admiring his plumage
He put his head back
And began to sing
A song both melodious and clear
It was spell binding
To find talent and beauty
Of this magnitude together
Natural and unimpeded
Sometimes
In our world
That prefers conformity
Too frequently
We educate the talent
Out of students
All have beauty
We just need to look for it
All have talent
We need to be flexible enough
To foster it
And not stifle it
Perhaps, when man was truly innocent
He could look on beauty and talent
Together
And appreciate it
For what it really is
Without trying to exploit it
Thereby destroying both
But that was so long ago
And now we are jaded
And suspicious of one another
But this bird
He naturally and happily
Bore his beauty
And expressed his talent
Without pretense
And upon completing his song
Gave his feathers a shake
And was gone
Leaving me to ponder
What the human race has become.