The Survivor Poem by Francis Duggan

I saw him lying amidst the snow
A helpless little feathered thing
'Methought' what ails the creature so
He's sick or wound or broke a wing.

I picked him up examined him
With eyes half ope he peered at me
And though his head did sideways tilt
He did not have an injury.

A little bird with wings of brown
And with bluish feathers on his breast
Beside the fire i placed him down
In cage with fist of hay for nest.

He seemed so weak i thought he'd die
This victim of hunger and cold
An hour or maybe more went by
Before the heat of him took hold.

He shook himself then i knew he'd live
And he slowly walked around the cage floor
He'd won his battle to survive
And the agony for him was o'er.

I gave him bits of bread to eat
This hedge dweller with slender bill
With bobbing head he pecked the crumbs
And took his life sustaining fill.

Two weeks went by the snow had gone
And the dunnock he chirped merrily
I took the cage out to a field
The time had come to set him free.

I opened the cage and he flew away
Chirping with joy as he did go
The bird i'd found on that January day
Dying amidst the frozen snow.




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