Feather of the Heart

Verse 1]

There once was a Jackdow, smallest of the crows

Wore kindness like armor, though nobody knows

It met a dark Raven with nothing but charm

Who smiled while it slowly did Jackdow harm

Feathers fell softly like tears on the stone

The Jackdow thought pain was the fault of its own

It covered its body in Raven disguise

But the mirror still whispered, "You're living a lie"

And oh, how it longed to be free

From a love that felt more like debris

But a friend, just a Jackdow, held fast through the storm

Said, "You’re perfect, you're broken, but that makes you warm"

And the Jackdow believed it—though not fully yet

Scars on the feathers, but trying to forget

Now enter the Raven, brown-necked and worn

Mocked since the day that its story was born

It searched out a Crow, found a flash of a flame

But love turned to silence, then silence to shame

It met a wild Cockatoo, danced in the breeze

But bled old regrets on the wings of its peace

So it drifted again through the midnight and gray

Until it met Jackdow, and bright turned the day

And oh, how the Raven did fall

For a bird that saw through it all

They’d laugh under starlight and talk without end

But love isn’t easy when trust has to bend

And though the Raven gave all that it knew

The Jackdow saw friend, not the love that was true

Another Raven, from another world

Caught Jackdow's gaze, and a new love unfurled

And the Brown-necked one knew it would never belong

So it weaned off the friendship it’d cherished so long

But oh, when the night wind is low

You can hear the soft caw in the glow

Of a Raven who still, from a distance apart

Whispers, "I love you, with all of my heart"

And should the Jackdow fall out of the sky

The Raven will catch it, no questions why

Feathers may falter, and voices may fade

But love leaves a shadow that won’t be unmade

Forever and always, through sorrow and flame

The Raven still calls out the Jackdow’s name