“Nightingale and Sparrow”
Juliette Sebock
Eternal optimist
flying high above the pain,
floating over orchard walls,
away from life, away from here,
banished to the sky
in a prison of restraint,
free from orchard branches, jailhouse bars,
in flight where poachers, gatekeepers can’t reach you.
Still, never still,
fleeing the fears you should have left behind;
nightingale and sparrow in an urgent race
against life, against fear, against time.