A Feathered Fable

Statuesque as a Great Blue Heron,
she wades silently, patiently,
her long-necked beauty,
and generous wingspan,
testament to a tender soul.

She dreams of a mate
who can unfold her,
carry her to new heights.

Rustling in a nearby bush,
she encounters a partridge –
shorter than her, and
rotund, his countenance grey.

She is drawn to the candour
of his misery, how vilely
he has been misplaced –
his wife and nest robbed by
another, more showy beast.

Pity masks itself as kinship
and as love does, she dons
blinders, ignores the fact that
he prefers ground dwelling,
tells herself she will adapt
to his packs, learn his ways

Once dreamt of a mate
who could unfold her,
carry her to new heights.

Her shoulders slump, and
she draws her neck in now,
wings forgetting how to soar –
she is diminishing in the
confines of a single field

while her Partridge mate,
remains a partridge –
only fatter.

(Written for dVerse pub, hosted by Björn tonight, who challenges us to use metaphor. I might have got carried away…oh, well, excuse me while I flock off.)

Published by

VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

48 thoughts on “A Feathered Fable”

  5. “Only fatter…”
    very dry, made me smile.
    Is she a heron though, or a snowy regret? 🤔. Love is never misplaced, though it can be a pain in the grass sometimes.
    This is both tender and fun V.J.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. You crushed the prompt with this one–an A+. The metaphor is so stark, it is hard not to relate to it. At 5’8″, I have always dated and married taller women, and I am a bit rotund, but I’ve never been in a pear tree.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. i like how you got carried away with this, it tells of a deeper story and the symbols are not just metaphors they are like little guideposts for someone who has lost herself and needs to unfurl her own wingspan, she never needed anyone to do it for her and to hold her neck tall and straight again.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Good use of metaphor. And thought provoking!
    Always at least two ways to look at anything … translating this to human choices, who can say if she would ever have found the dream mate … is it better to be alone dreaming or together adapting? (The fatter partridge sounds predictable, reliable, “grounded” – qualities some dream of …)

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Too bad she settled for a “patridge” mate, instead one who can unfold her,
    carry her to new heights. Love the take on relationship choices and binders that we put on, in exchange for that miserable kinship.

    Liked by 1 person

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