Love Song for the Whooping Crane

In my dream,

I find you,

transformed into a whooping crane;

snow-white bird,

noble and rare,

elusive as the soul’s bliss,

waiting to be saved,

by true love and a kiss.

 .

In my dream,

I do not break the spell.

I choose to love you as

Whooping Crane,

Prairie Dancer,

Bird Prince of Destiny:

your survival manifests,

our need for balance and harmony.

 .

You almost disappeared,

lost,

then again found;

the circle did not end—

we brought you back

from the edge of extinction,

on wings of hope and love,

and commitment to your protection.

.

Let us dance then, Bird Prince,

bow, twirl, leap with me.

Let us dance for life,

you and I,

bird and human,

feathered and un-feathered.

Let us join

in the eternal dance

of sky and earth;

Let us celebrate the whooping crane’s

rising and re-birth.

. 

I treasure

your red-crowned head—

graceful and majestic,

curled upon my breast;

I adore

your primordial eyes,

a reflection of the One,

in me,

in you,

in all.

I rejoice

to hear your trumpet song,

echo in the reeds.

I pray for your resurgence,

and for my world that bleeds.

. 

When I watch you soar above,

you are a gliding arrow,

a wondrous, winged messenger

from the Great Spirit of love—

When I watch you fly,

I hold my breath in awe;

I can then believe: beauty arrests motion,

in the symmetry of natural law.

 .

Bird Prince,

I must set you free to follow

the compass of your heart.

Do not forget me,

where I dream upon the ground,

burdened as I am

by the weight of being human.

I wish never to awaken from this vision—

I see you leap,

pierce the sky,

rise and fade

over the misty mountains high.

. 

May you rule the prairie wetlands,

without fear that my kin,

will turn your domain into a wasteland.

Now that I have cherished you,

danced with you,

looked into your secret soul—

if your eyes were to vanish,

your whooping song silenced,

would not my universe become extinct too?

Would not my world be diminished,

by the loss of you?

 .

© Knightwriter, June, 2013