A Lesson From a Finch

A finch was hopping on the ground,
And calmly eating what he found,
Until a blue jay flying by
Let out his horrifying cry.

How cruel and naughty was the jay
To scare the little bird away!
It’s only right the finch should feel
Some anger for his troubled meal.

It seemed the jay was having fun,
And scared him just to see it done,
But as he mounted to his wings,
The finch began to see some things.

He lifted up his frightened eyes
And found a blessing in disguise
A cat, delighted by the find,
Was stalking him from close behind.

And if it wasn’t for the jay,
He would have carried him away,
So that which at the moment seemed
To be a trick the blue jay schemed

Was meant for quite a different cause,
And saved him from the feline’s claws
And what brutality began
Turned out to be salvation’s plan.

Ezra Brainard, November 2012

Inspired by a true happening