CHRISTIAN NEWS MAGAZINE FOR KERALA MALAYALEE CHRISTIANS FROM INDIA AROUND THE WORLD
AUGUST 2008 POEM
VOL:07 ISSUE:08

MIGRATORY BIRDS
By PROF. DR. ZAC VARGHESE, LONDON

Winter migration is a built in need for birds
Of a certain kind, it is as real as day and night.
It is life at a distant land or death at a familiar site;
Many a heroic stories are told of this annual event.
Winter migration is a long distance flight,
For keeping pace with cycles of seasons.
They need spaces for little rest on the way,
But have no clues for meals on the flight.
A little rest and prayer are all they need,
To continue their flight in the morning light.
They fly with precision and formation intact,
To keep an appointment at a distant land.
These migratory birds can teach us a lot;
They have a plan for the seasons of life.
They flutter and float joyously in the wind,
With no respect for boundaries of any kind.
But birds just fly with one aim in mind;
They put their faith in the lord of the skies.
They fly together to reach the distant land,
But keep memories intact for a return flight.
For there are birds who made this flight,
Several times, in a life that so stretched.
Their stories are real and full of valour,
These stories have merits of a spiritual kind.
I well remember the story of another bird,
At another time, at another place in ‘Ramayana.’
There was ‘Jetayu,’ my hero, the Lord of the skies,
Dying valiantly fighting Ravana for rescuing Sita.
But think of the plight of a man in your life;
He gets upset if a meal is not planned,
Cooked and served in a traditional mode,
Blames his partner if the bed is not made.
Men work hard to find food for their folks;
Some live to eat and others eat a little to live;
There is a difference in these two styles of life.
Do they care for stories of food on the plate?
Who is free in this tale, the bird or the man?
‘Man is born free, but is in chain everywhere.’
He digs his hole and goes deeper and deeper,
Hooked to a bank on a credit card number.
Human needs are beyond human help.
Knowing this truth our Lord came down,
To liberate man from shackles of bondage,
And give freedom for a heavenward flight.
Staying put is not a safe thought;
Erratic weather is a recurring event.
Climate Change is our next big plot.
Ecological bandwagon is out for a jolt.
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