I don’t see them displayed in tiny cages
at restaurants and stores anymore,
the way I remember them, confined and trained.
Today in my yard a mynah bird
calls its characteristic chirp from the mango tree,
never having been caught and taught to talk,
never trapped in a tiny cage, but living wild and free,
or if it were ever caught, this one was turned loose,
the realization dawning that domestication
would kill its own true voice. I remember
too well, the long ago entertaining chirp of
Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird, awk!
and I gladly watch this pretty bird fly away.
Lanning Lee 