A Hat Stand for Birds

author’s note:

The religious practice mentioned in the poem does--or at least, did--happen.


A HAT STAND FOR BIRDS

In Bora Bora
kings pay priests to pray for them

because they believe
without those pleas for mercy
they’ll become hat stands after death
and be forced to serve all ghosts--
even those who once lived as lowly peasants.

But I believe good karma must be earned
through sincere action:
unless you learn to serve
others in this life
you'll be made to stand
as a hat stand
in the next.

Not a punishment
but a blessing--
to be deprived
of a chance at education
would be damnation.

I myself have learned much
from all the work I’ve done
holding hats and coats
as well as umbrellas
for countless others--
both high and low.

Under the weight and restraint
of such servitude
I broke open for a moment once
and in my brief high flight
I looked down to see
a hat stand transform into a tree--

hundreds, maybe thousands
of rustling, restless birds
flitted through its branches--
I still hear their cries in my heart.

I’m listening carefully to that cacophony--
hoping I may one day perceive
the glorious design of a symphony.

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