The Taking and The Redress



The beautiful creature was dressed in red
she sang with the whales and the caribou
she wore wings and antlers the men had said
so she was heckled and hunted by their crew

She fled and dove deftly into the seabed
but her red dress clashed with the ocean blue
so she crept and scurried deep into the forest
where they swore she made a witches brew

She then flew to the sky and there she fed
as her shiny wings and sharp beak grew
but the men picked her off and ripped her dress
squeezing her neck till her beak turned blue

The men picked her off and ripped her dress
squeezing her neck till her beak turned blue

They didn’t care that her torn crimson breast bled
or how loud she cried out the truth - how loud she cried out the truth
The men just laughed and beat their chests
when the wind whispered, ‘If you can’t get over, go through’

When they thought truly that she was dead
from bone they tried to break her sinew
to clip her wings and trap her soul
but its essence escaped and began anew

They tossed her body in a bracken bed
but as they dragged her, she lost a shoe
and like the cinder girl’s fairy godmother
Mother Earth would one day bring their due

Her shiny wings, lightning and her thunder grew

Then their ship did crash, burn and sink
into the belly of a great crooning Blue