The Bird with the Ugly Voice
I kept a bird whose song was harsh and coarse,
A jarring cry, a rasping, croaking force.
I shut him in his cage beside the door,
And hoped in time his voice might charm me more.
I longed for melodies of sweet delight,
So trained him daily, patient in my rite.
I sang him airs, the lilting songs I knew,
And bid him learn what gentler birds pursue.
At first he croaked, a frog amid the reeds,
He spat his notes like scattered husks of seeds.
I soothed his throat with honey, mint, and tea,
Yet silence lingered, stubborn as could be.
I schooled him further, playing Mozart’s art,
And Chopin’s sighs to teach a listening heart.
He flapped his wings, bewildered on the perch,
While tones half-formed still wandered in their search.
Yet through the rain and sighing winds that blew,
He found odd strains, though bent and out of true.
One moonlit night, when all the world was still,
I leaned outwards, my breath restrained, my will.
A secret murmur trembled from his throat,
A hidden song that swelled to soaring note.
It rose and rose, a silver, starry choir—
And morn proclaimed: A Nightingale for Hire!
Scharlie Meeuws, a poet born in Germany, began writing at a young age. She studied in Spain and France, writing poems in Spanish and French before settling in England, where she co-owns Thorntons Bookshop, the oldest in Oxford. Scharlie’s poetry has been featured in magazines and anthologies, including the Guardian. Her work was recognized by Nobel Prize winner Vicente Aleixandre. Her most recent book is The Emotional Robot and Other Poems. Her poetry book Outbranching was published by Cerasus, London in 2021 and is available on Amazon.
