R.i.p - injured sparrow

• Grace Wong, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2006

As I slump over these damned bars,
Which separate me from unlimited freedom.
I hear a chirrup, a pained and desperate one,
Coming from a creature that needs care.

I crane my head slowly in the direction of the noise,
My neck screaming with agony caused by a recent whipping.
There! I see it!
It is a sparrow, an injured and hurt sparrow.

I call it over to my forbidding jail cell,
Almost pleading even, hoping that it will be my friend.
It listens, sensing that I can help,
And crawls over to me.

I inspect its’ injuries; hoping I can revive it,
Unfortunately, its’ injuries are too severe.
I hold its’ weak and frail body to my ear,
Straining to hear its diminishing heartbeat.