Your Rapidly Beating Heart

“For all the nurses of wounded hearts”

 

 

 

 

Injured bird, let me take your broken wing

And mend it with patience and love.

Let me nurse you back to health

With purple berries and sweet water,

until your strength for flight returns.

Let me wrap your crooked wing with bandages,

Then let you rest .

I will sing to you the sweetest of lullabies,

Your heartbeat shall slow and your eyelids shall close.

I shall wrap your trembling body

in a cozy blanket,

nestled by the warmth of the hearth.

When winter has passed,

and  I see your wing has healed,

and your own song has returned,

and you have grown restless,

wanting the joy of open air again,

Then, I will set you free.

If you fly away, without a glance,

 then I know.

Some things, other than wings,

 never quite heal.

 

 

Reviews

[Stammers]

This is beautifully done. The ending is elegantly revealed.

Let me nurse you back to health
With purple berries and sweet water,

To me, I saw lots of ambiguous connotations to death - berries, slowing heartbeat, eyelids shall close, wrapping up in the blanket like a coffin, winter, let you rest, etc. I felt the death of a relationship, or death of the hope of it, or just an ending of sorts playing in low tones in the background, despite the idea of nurture and healing. The description of the bird as restless makes me think of lovers you know will not stay. I guess bird imagery is often associated with the innate nature of romance, perhaps this planted the seed for my interpretation.

Not sure, but I read this as very spiritual and throbbing with the acceptance of a permanent state of longing or separation.

Subtle and very nicely written.

[Nautili]

very spot-on in your interpretation. Thank you, I will read some of your work!

[Pax Analog]

The tender attentiveness to the wounded bird, as it feathers into metaphor is given a pointed turnaround with "If you fly away, without a glance,/then I know/Some things, other than wings,/never quite heal." Intriguing tug at the recipient of compassion to fully appreciate its source.

[Nautili]

thanx,Pax!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

We are all God's creatures and equally deserve compassion... what a lovely poem.

[An owl on the moon]

So beautifully bittersweet... could feel the love mending... the caring heart reaching out... the desire to heal, and the realization that there are always scars that remain... Your words are filled with wondrous colors of emotion.

[Nautili]

Thank you, Craig.

[David Scott]

When I was a child i cared for injured birds and other critters I would find in the woods. As I became a man and a husband and then a father, Ifound myself "caring for the injuries of those I love often. Sometimes, even the injuries I inficted on them... We heal our own "brokeness" be helping to heal others. Your poem reminds me of lessons learned in this life.
The last part is a sobering reminder that we may never see all wounds heal and may never redeam our own status no matter how long and how hard we love our injured loved ones.
You presented a gift to me today with this poem. Thank you.

[Nautili]

Thank you for your kind words. Caregivers sometimes lose their own sense of self-care, I am afraid. It can be a daunting task to care for wounded hearts, but not be codependent....I am learning the balance.

[_mal]

This is so tender, it's lovely

[Nautili]

thanks.

[Chris]

It drew me along very well... but at the very end you didn't lose me - it was all between the lines.

[Nautili]

thank you, Chris.

[Muse]

There's a deeper meaning behind this...you go through so much work to heal the physical wounds.

I see your wing has healed,

and your own song has returned,

and you have grown restless,

wanting the joy of open air again,

Then, I will set you free.

If you fly away, without a glance,

then I know.

Some things, other than wings,

never quite heal.


and then you make it apparent that when the bird can physically fly..without turning back...it's because the heart is still damaged...some things no matter how hard you try...can never be fixed.