Light Bird, Shadow Bird by Jason P. Burnham

Sunny days are my favorite You’re always full of energy on sunny days. We fly together, up into the light; I can never keep up You fly higher, faster than me So fast I think I’ll lose you among the clouds Worry you might forget I’m following. But the worry is a piffling thing Outmatched by the joy. I love sunny days. Cloudy days are harder Especially when it’s cold and the nights are long Longer still, like shadows cast by the moon Gloom and doom whisper together through the deep, powdery snow. We don’t fly together on cloudy days. Sometimes you don’t fly at all. When I come to check on you, you’re in your nest. No flying, no singing on cloudy days. I bring you worms, try to shine like the sun myself. You’re glad of it, but there’s no substitute for the light. The clouds, the gray, drag at my soul Drag it back to earth, ground it Where I know yours is. But the cloudy days don’t bother me so much Even when I can’t help you sing or fly Because I know another sunny day will come And you’ll fly higher and faster than I ever can. The bliss you have, flying among golden rays

Sunny days are my favorite.

Jason P. Burnham is an infectious diseases physician and clinical researcher. He loves many things, among them sci-fi, his wife, sons, and dog, metal music, Rancho Gordo beans, and equality (not necessarily in that order).

Cover: Amanda Bergloff

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