Such a lovely poem Wragg! So eloquent about man's inhumanity to man. Nature may appear cruel, but the cruelty is not intended -- it's just about survival. Only humans can be cruel.
But the title of your poem could also be from the perspective of the crucified girl who, when looking up at her pierced wrist, sees a pretty bird on the end of her crossbeam looking at her with its curious, beady eyes. Then to take flight. The girl follows it with her eyes as it soars off.
Even in the grip of her horrible agony, hanging nailed on her cross, she might think this:
Ah, to be a bird and fly away
To flee the horror of this day
Free from this cross and nails driven
To soar heavenward, my freedom given
Oh lucky bird, so free to fly
Among the clouds, so way up high
But soon enough when death arrives
I'll soar with you across the skies.
Of course the bird, being just a bird, might be thinking this as it flies off:
She did not hear my song so sweet
Nailed as she was by wrists and feet
But when at last she gasps and dies
I’ll be there to peck out her eyes!
(With apologies to Jollyrei. I honestly hadn't read your delicious macabre twist to this poem before I composed mine.)
