She is there
in the drive
body seemingly too small
to sustain life
A little downy lump
Almost out of gas
What should I do?
She looks at me
with a drowsy eye
so tired
It's too much
she seems to say
She must have tumbled
from the high eves of the carport
Where the sparrows dwell
and sing and work and play
She's not moving
Broken wing broken body
I get down on hands and knees
in the stifling hot of a summer day
give her some water dropped from my finger
Her yellow beak
like a big clown smile
eagerly drinks the precious fluid
Mni wiconi
Water is life
I pick her up gently
from behind the gritty hot car tire
place her in a bowl with red towel
she burrows beneath
moving slow
I wonder if she'll make it
or if her short life is finished
I talk to her sing to her
her eyes open wide
she looks and listens
I ask her to stay
I'll stay with her I say
Get better so you can fly away home
She makes not a sound
too weak
I put the bowl inside a box
poke holes in the top
just like when I caught a snake as a child
I place crystals and healing stones around her
A wooden angel to watch over her
I sprinkle holy water
and cover her with love
My dreams are so many
happy ones
joy
I hear sparrows calling chirp chirp
singing their medicine songs
I wake and realize the sound is coming from the little box
though holes poked in the top
She's alive and talking
Calling for her mama
She's strong enough to push the lid up
and escape
I find her in the sink put her back in the box
I know it's time to say goodbye
Out to the garden
she eagerly jumps out of the box and hides beneath
a big green plant
Mama is there
calling from the tree
Goodbye little sparrow
thank you for gracing me
with your beauty
and your medicine
