THE PARAKEET AND THE CAT

A parakeet
Escaped its cage
And crashed
Into a plaster cat
Sitting on a table.
I've been locked up so long
Complained the bird
(As soon as it was able)
That I can hardly fly.
The silent cat
Stared out a window
(Open just an inch or so)
At the traffic going by
Thirty floors below.

The parakeet hopped over to
The window sill,
Got closer to the glass...
Then closer still...
Then stuck his head
Beneath the sash
And felt wind blowing
On his bill.
Think I should I try?
He asked, not knowing
Which was worse:
To jump from such a height
Hoping for a perch
And maybe crash
Into a car,
Or sit five to ten more years
A martyr in a prison.
You're asking
The wrong person,
Sighed the feline;
For plaster cats
One is a real non-starter,
One a given.

The plaster cat,
Who never learned
The full and awful story,
Didn't spend the
Next two decades
Feeling sorry.