The Little Sparrow

We seek redemption in the strangest of places.

He's just a sparrow. 

What does he even know.

He saw that woman, begging on her knees. That man didn't care. He kept on with his spree. Her yelling was loud. How could nobody else hear..? Were they really alone? Was nobody near..?

He kept on going, clearly he could not understand. In this big city of ours, birds easily blend. He saw that boy, pressed in the alley. 

His belongings they took, also they punched his belly. He saw him weep. But clearly understand he could not, not even when the boy was shot.

Little beating wings, nobody cared. Nobody minded how a little bird fared. He stopped at the park with a lake, surely there was nothing insidious here. Just an old lady holding a photo, missing her dear.

When the two girls came, his head he did c**k, he munched on a worm while they helped her across the dock. A dog came by. Hello he did say, but the Sparrow was busy. The girls now forced her to pay. Old clueless lady, she furrowed, was she out of luck? But in her wallet she burrowed, lest she be struck.

The sparrow kept on, he reached a home. The safest of places, here no harm could take place. Imagine his surprise when the wife took a beating to the face. In front of her child, and despite of her pleas, he beat her so badly, she could no longer see.

Oh little sparrow, we'd like no judgment from you.

Yes we can do wrong, but we can do good too.

You see us at our worst, pushed to the brink.

I wonder, if you could talk, what would you think..?

Oh little sparrow, did you miss out on the rest?

You clearly have not seen mankind at its best.

Did you see that old veteran? Helped by volunteers? Long gone are gunshots and bullets, but he still has his fears. Did you see that old girl at the rescue center who wept? It was a stranger who stayed by her side, in his safety she was kept. Did you see that stray cat? Fed by our youngest..? They barely can speak, but their moral is the strongest.

Don't fly little sparrow, you have not seen enough. Don't judge us just yet, I know it seems rough. Don't fly little sparrow, there's good in us indeed. Don't you dare walk away from me, when I speak and I plead!

Don't fly little sparrow, or I don't know what I'll break.

Don't fly little sparrow, or I'll just snap your neck!

The Sparrow did fly. What did he think..?

And what would he say, if his mind he could speak?

Author's Note

Just another one.
This one is a slightly different tone from most of my stories.
I hope you enjoy it.

Reviews

[An owl on the moon]

Beautiful and powerful, these glimpses of life through the eyes of one so small, of one so seemingly insignificant. There is much to learn in every line, of the world that inflicts such pain, when such wonders surround us every day. May we learn to live in miracles and not madness.

[LastMonth]

Strong words.
Sometimes I feel like reviewing your reviews.
Thanks mate.

[Cora Jenness-Symes]

so cutie and nice work
I like the things that you write

[West Lake Angel]

Powerful, sad, with a plea for understanding. It captures the heart of our world.

[LastMonth]

Thanks a bunch for the review Elizabeth.

[Courtney Hough]

wow!
"Did you see that stray cat? Fed by our youngest..? They barely can speak, but their moral is the strongest."

This is my favorite part. It reminds me of how innocent those who cannot help themselves are. This poem is amazing.

[LastMonth]

Thanks a bunch for the review, I appreciate it.

[Gaia Octavia]

Surprise surprise, I liked this a lot. I enjoy the honest faith in "goodness" the narrator seems to have despite what's going on around him and knowing the sparrow is witnessing it all as well. I think about these things often, and it has crept into my writing lately. But I seem to have much less faith and I tend to focus on the wrongness of the path humanity seems to be on. I often feel like the sparrow in that I am watching, while being unable to stop, many awful things. Only I can't fly away ☺ I guess I will endeavor to be more observant of the goodness I see as well (as the narrator suggests). Well done!

[LastMonth]

I'm glad that you liked this friend.
I think that our worst fear is not that the Sparrow thinks us bad.
I think that our worst fear is that the sparrow doesn't give a damn.

[Cathair Cathmore]

"You clearly have not seen mankind at its best." I'm curious. What is mankind's best, really?

I am not good in reviewing, but. I just wanna say that it's a really nice piece that makes me think. I like the summary and how the story connects to the summary. And the mankind's words are very mankind-ish indeed.

[LastMonth]

There are two types of Narrators.
There's the All-knowing Narrator. Ones who will usually start by 'In a faraway kingdom, ages ago.''
And end in 'And they lived happily ever after.'' That narratork nows it all and rarely has a personallity. An almost God-like storyteller.

And there's the POV Narrator. Which often has emotions, blindspots and can only tell things the way he saw him. That's our narrator here. You'll have to ask him about mankind's best. Because that is his opinion, not mine. :)

Thank you for the review.

[Hyacinth]

Wow.

This just swallow you whole, the message you give and the way you give it in. Wow, again.

"Yes we can do wrong, but we can do good too,"

That line especially is very powerful. It raises questions and it sounds am to me as if you're trying to reassure yourself as well as the sparrow, wonderful as always.

[LastMonth]

Always a pleasure to get your reviews.
Thanks a bunch.
There's alot of truth in your statement, we do try to reassure ourselves so often.

[Lyn Anderson]

Interesting take on what the birds would think of us ... and of course, we would snap its little neck without a thought now wouldn't we? Probably best to fly away.

[LastMonth]

Well said Goode.

[Woody]

good one, LastMonth. a novel idea for me. I like it. your story is clearly saying that there's still faith in humanity in these troubled times.
In spite of her pleas, he beat her so badly. who's he?
everything else is fine.

[LastMonth]

Oh, I was talking about the Wife. Go a line back Woods.
Thanks for the review friend, always enjoyble to see your feedback man.

[Woody]

yes, I got that, M. this is what I meant. you mentioned the sparrow, then the wife then "he". perhaps it's better to say husband, man or whatever. am I making sense?

[LastMonth]

Ooh. I see what you mean. The word husband isn't even there.
Thanks Woods, I'll fix it up in a bit. I see it now, yeah. It's kinda easy to misunderstand.

[Woody]

no prob. :))

[barleygirl]

This is very powerful & twisted in a deeply honest way. What hits me more than the deeds being described is the tone of the narrator, both pleading & harsh, the attitude demonstrating the loving hand that beats the s**t out of the beloved. I'm very stunned by this, not becuz you had the nerve to describe human nature so bluntly, but becuz of the way the little sparrow was used as an innocent bystander thru-out, symbolizing (to me) how we might imagine God seeing us at our best and our worst. This is a brilliant concept & delivered with gut-wrenching impact . . . but not becuz of dramatization, it' becuz of the dispassionate discussion of each situation, each hope and dream, plus, the ending, where the sparrow has to get away from all this. I'm in awe of the mind that put all this together, more than the writing itself.

[LastMonth]

I'm glad you liked it.
It's been a while since I tried writing something a bit more blunt. read moreI'm glad you liked it.
It's been a while since I tried writing something a bit more blunt.
As you saw perfectly, I tried putting an emphasis on the Narrator as a character, rather then an ominpotent know it all.

The sparrow is neutral.
Or at least he doens't speak, is it because he can't? Or won't..?
Either way, it is his silence that drives us crazy. Sometimes we want to be scolded. We want to be told that we are wrong, or right.

I think that is the fact God is silent that is driving us mad.
But you know what..?
I really believe that he listens. And sometimes thats the best he can do.

[LastMonth]

Ahhh.. It killed my comment Hahaha. That sucks. But yeah, you got it right. I was trying to make the Sparrow's silence the most difficult aspect. Thank you for the review Barley.

[barleygirl]

You have a bad habit of popping off a little suddenly *heh! heh! heh!* . . . . (((HUGS)))