My Sister Became A Parakeet Poem by Louise Marie DelSanto

My sister became a parakeet
I would go to my daughters house
and see her clinging on the screen
of the front window and screeching
to other birds in an old Maple tree.

Her wings would spread and
would extend far outward,
her reflection in that window

Outside, a morning dove, my brother
would urge her to come and fly,
the racoon sleeping under the bushes,
my other brother, would laugh
' No.'she would answer in a screech.

The blue of her wings were like the sky
the tips unclipped, had grown, and there
was nothing to stop her from leaving.

I heard the birds singing from across the
street...and watched the parakeet sit beside
the black and white cat above the couch.
The bird named my sister...'a bad dream
is all it is, she told the cat.

I wanted to open the window and let
her fly away with the Morning doves
And only the moon and stars would know
my secret.