Page 13 - The Muse 2021

kiwi
A flightless friend
for all can tell deprived of wings and freedom as well.
How much it longs
to fly along
with the other birds
as they recite their song.
“Come little bird,
come one, come all,
but if you don’t have your wings then you’re bound to fall.”
The kiwi bird asks
if he can have a free pass even without his wings
if he can still dance and sing.
“Oh, silly kiwi,
how much you don’t know- without your wings
you just cannot go.”
But kiwi was determined for all of his life.
He had dreamed of soaring
through the clouds,
he dreamed of endless flight.
Kiwi said, “Take me with you!
I’ll find a way to fly.”
The other birds said, “Good luck, my friend, but if you come with us, you’ll die.”
Kiwi thought for a moment-
he had waited to soar through the skies waiting for a chance like this to come even if it means saying his goodbyes.
Kiwi says, “I’m ready,
I’ve lived a wonderful life. Tell my family I love them, But that it is my last night.”
Goodbye, little kiwi.
It has been a good ‘round. “Promise me,” says kiwi
“not to let the other birds down.”
He prepares for his departure Excited nonetheless
Even though it’s his first and last Kiwi does not stress.
In moments they are off,
tearing through the sky,
and right before he hits the ground kiwi wipes a tear from his eye.
The leaves are swept off the ground and carried by the breeze
laying gently like a blanket
on top of the bird that was freed.
-Taylor Fodiman, Grade 7
Blue Ribbon
13
Anita Rindi, Grade 6