Bird on a Wire

Bird on a wire above my roof
One moment stone-like solid, then,
Like a shadow, gone
The wire heavy with the loss.

Summer's heat
Warms my face.
The song of the bird on the wire
Rings sharp as does
the flutter of its furtive wing.

Now the wire is empty
Snow is all around.
But summer once more will come.
I will see the bird again.
And  I will savour its energy
and joy.

Trudi Ralston
February 25th, 2009- May 2nd, 2012.


I wrote this poem after I started therapy, at a moment when I realized the nightmare was over, and that I would eventually be alright. I recently reworked the original poem, as a testimony to myself that grief is a living thing, and something that never leaves us. We just get better at learning to live with it.