Parrot and Crane
Peacock and Linnet
Birds small to great
Baked in a pie
When that pie was opened
The poets were amazed –
A dish unseen before
O Songbird Surprise!
‘You need not ignore
My stunningly obvious symbol’
Their host meanwhile replied –
‘In the grimness of the grave
The small lie equal with the great
And though some poets stand revered
This is only
Long after they have ceased to sing’
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
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