Once upon a time

I had a little bird

A tiny sparrow

Her name was Hope

The sweetest little thing

I held her at my heart

And loved her like my own

 

And once upon a time

I held my little bird

As the boy across the street

Shot at cans on my fence.

Hope leapt into the air,

A streak of love and joy

And soared across the sky

A brief, blissful moment

And the boy missed the can

And the pellet flew through the air

And it struck my little Hope

In her softest breath

And the moment ended

And she fell from the sky.

 

The boy took a moment

To take in the image:

My, standing, frozen.

And cupped in my hands,

My littlest Hope.

 

He shouted apologies that I couldn't hear

Over the sound of my heartbeat in my ears

And the sound of the screaming that wasn't supposed to be me

 

And as Hope breathed her last breath

A note.

The last of her joyous song

So terribly interrupted by

The pellet that missed the can

 

It hung in the air

And faded

And I watched as

The light behind her eyes

Vanished

 

And I lost my littlest Hope.