For sometime now I have been walking with a Mockingbird. He has taken up a residence where I go in the mornings to greet the Sun. At first, I thought he was just a very loud little bird who was trying his best to sing a song, and I might add, not very well. We have been watching each other and walking together since early Spring.
I watched his ways carefully, as he has watched mine. He would wake me in the mornings with a loud serenade. In the beginning, he would always be on the ground flying low and clumsily, flapping his wings wildly as he would try and gather his meal. It was odd, I knew he was grown or a juvenile, but he fluttered around like a nestling. He seemed always to be starving and looking for anything moving on the ground. He would not hide and ambush his meal normally, he would just sit and wait hoping it would just happen to drop by. I thought how strange he is, this little bird, clumsy and loud. I watched, ... he never ventured too far away from the security of a bush, was always on the ground, and would make a big scene when another bird entered his small territory. I finally realized that this just wasn't his ways, but a fact of life he was learning to live with. My little friend was missing the most important part of his flying feathers, his Tail. He could not maneuver very well through the air without his tail feathers, as all birds use them to help with Balance, Direction, and speed control to Ground themselves safely. I wondered to myself what could have caused his demise, maybe the cat caught him by his tail, maybe he had escaped the clutches of death minus these much needed tail feathers. Regardless, he was learning to fly again... with what he had, and he was teaching me.
As we grew together throughout the Spring and on into Summer, he began to fly a little higher, and his territory became larger. He began to follow me around the place here, and as he did, he graduated to the low, low branches of Trees. This gave him the vantage point he needed to dive down to the ground surprising any insect that happened his way. It was a much better time for him, his landings were hard, but I had the feeling he was feeling better about securing his meals, and his song was becoming somewhat more pleasing. I didn't hear all the desperation and anxiety I had heard in his earlier songs. ...I loved this little bird, watching him learn new ways to live and be, I was learning also. I often wished I could give him a tail and stop the looks and jeers from all the other little birds who came by just to show theirs off. They treated him differently, and teased him with games of look how high I can fly.
Then came the day, I went out, I looked for him everywhere... and then, I saw him, he was in the very top of the Tree! He was singing the most beautiful Song I had ever heard come from anything so small, ...and it was finally A Song! It was His Song! ...and it was beautiful! I watched as he flew over the top of every Tree, ...he knew he couldn't stop without a tail, so instead, he would clumsily turn his rear end around mid air, and then just stop and drop, straight down, ...drop right down into the middle of the Tree. He was trusting and knowing that Tree would catch him. I watched as he sometimes dropped through several limbs before he came to rest...He never stopped Singing, he never stopped Trusting, he never stopped Trying. I noticed not only how proud of himself he seemed, but that there was another little bird Singing with him. They were Singing to each other, together, and this new little bird didn't even seem to notice that he has no tail, she just Hears his Song.
I am grateful for this little Mockingbird that entered my life, giving guidance and teaching me in such a light hearted way. He gives this... Deal with what you think are your limitations, and Know that you are LIMITLESS. When you feel you've lost Balance, it is there, just find it in a New Way. Don't let others discourage you, this is Your Walk. Know how special You Are, even if the way You Fly is different. Find your Sacred Tree!, ...your sacred territory in which to Sing!. Learn Your Sacred Song!, ...the Song of your Soul. Sing it with all you have. Know it will be Heard, as it comes from your Heart. Trust that your Wings will take you where you need to be, and the Branches of your Sacred Tree are there, as Great Spirit is, to catch you when you fall.
In love and honor of your Sacred Song little Mockingbird.
© 2019 REDSKYHAWK /Tina Phillips
Walking the Earth Touching the Sky
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