One day in the land of the Red, White, and Blue,
The Congress of Birds got a summons, it’s true.
From jungles, from mountains, from lakes far and wide,
Each bird was called forth, with a feather of pride.
The leaders all gathered, with feathers to spare,
Saying, “Something is wrong. We must fix it with care.
We’ve all got a feather, so birds we must be,
Yet together we flock not. Oh, how can this be?”
First came the penguin, with waddles and wiggles,
He frowned and he huffed and he gave little giggles:
“I don’t even fly. I just shuffle and slide.
I’m not sure why I’m here. I prefer icy rides.”
Then the eagle swooped in, oh so regal and high,
With a crown in her eye and her beak to the sky:
“My nest is up top where the sun shines so bright,
Surely you don’t expect me to descend from such height?”
The duck gave a quack as he splashed in a dish,
“Down low by the water, now that’s where I fish.
Why fly up so high when the good stuff’s below?
Where the ripples all sparkle and the sweet grasses grow?”
The owl gave a hoot from a branch thick and old,
“You’re all in the wrong if I’m ever so bold.
You squint in the sun while you gobble your seeds.
At night is the time to go fill up your needs.”
They squabbled and wobbled. They flapped and they flailed.
They fussed and they fumed, and their mission near failed.
“We’re all made the same,” said a sparrow with cheer,
“But how do we teach all the young ones to hear?”
The goose gave a honk that was hearty and long:
“You honk and you honk till they all sing your song.
You flap and you yap and you honk even louder.
They’ll join in at last just to add to the chowder.”
But wise old owl, with a twinkling eye,
Said, “We’ll never all match, and that’s no lie.
We each have our gift, be it flying or creeping,
By day or by night, by waddling or leaping.
The key isn’t matching our feathers or flight,
It’s finding one goal and then doing it right.
When birds of a feather all flock together,
It’s not how they fly. It’s what brings them together.”
And that was the lesson, so clever and bright:
Not sameness but purpose will set things all right.
