Red-tailed Black Cockatoos

• Molly Morrice, Grade 8
• Poetry
• 2018

You told me stories of daring, that opened up my eyes,
And when the world began tearing, you said ‘look to the skies.’

For when someone leaves this world, the Cockatoos hear the whispering woes,
Of forgotten dreams unfurled, and wishes uttered in last throes.

They take to the breeze, in a crackle of thunder,
Soaring over the trees, and into the bright wonder.

Still the world didn’t believe, what you'd told me was true,
And that I could only grieve, the way they already knew.

But there are things that sometimes happen, that you or I cannot explain,
And my grip on reality will slacken, then see - while the world thinks me insane.

Pure knowledge cannot comprehend, the night your soul came loose,
Wings of darkness did ascend, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.