Love Poem: Cuckoo
Aditi Mishra Avatar
Written by: Aditi Mishra

Cuckoo

Far away in a
                land torn with war,
             she looked for a home. 
          She was not as pretty as 
       doves adorning lush gardens, 
           as exuberant as ducks to                    play     
             with,neither as useful               as pigeons  
              in war. The lonely                 little cuckoo  
              flew from burnt             trees to desolate 
            orchards. A black          bird with yellow    
         spots on her feathers     that other birds     
      found ugly. She looked for a home where 
     she'd be accepted for who she was. The  
      world hurled poisonous arrows at her. 
      Wounded, she fell in a garden waiting 
       to die until two little human hands 
        cocooned her. A girl nursed her agony 
          and made her feel  loved. All her sorrow 
          began to melt and pour as rain on the fiery
           land. She cried with her heart,  her honeyed 
            voice, never heard before. The  little girl danced
              in joy and kissed her wings to   let her fly but 
                little  cuckoo sang to a world    lost in pain, her
                  music blooming pink buds,        rushing through
                    blue rivulets, swaying                branches with 
                      soothing wind, caressing         parched souls, 
                       raising spirits  of warriors            with hope. 
                          She stayed for  love,                     ecstatic   
                            at her newfound lilac                      tune. 
                               She'd found home 
                                  in a         land 
                                  torn         with 
                               w  ar to      dr en ch
                              it  wi  th        h  e  r 
                            di   vi   ne        s  o   ng.

July 11, 2020

Bird Poetry Contest
Sponsor:  Constance La France
~Winner: 1st Place

~Poem of the Day: July 13, 2020

~Ranked #3 in Best New Poems for July 2020