Two small blue birds tucked up like snails
blink dreams away, unfurl their wings,
fluttering as hands that hold their cage
return them to the day.
Blue birds in an azure prison
chirrup on their balcony;
far below, the traffic snarls,
a giant reptile with gleaming scales.
Wings whirr in fantasies of flight,
they hover, shrieking with delight;
the greater space beyond the bars
is dizzyingly vast and bright.
They live in azure make-believe
that bars will keep them safe from harm,
that morning's rays will keep them warm
and hands will close the hatch on fright.
Secure in their captivity,
they do not chafe to fly away:
freedom asks too high a price,
heaven wears an awesome face…