In Memoriam

My Beloved Daughter,

It’s perfectly normal

to wonder why the caged bird sings.

But at twilight

when the sun sets like a golden compass

and the color purple

graces the earth, the ocean

and the bluest sky above,

when the kite runner runs along the beach

and the song of the red ruby

rises to meet the God of Small Things,

then, from my well of loneliness,

my tears flowing freely into the Big Sea,

I know,

I know why the caged bird sings.

by Nancy Nielson

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jls 10/7/2010