Hieroglyph

Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti 1
(Jon Bodsworth, Copyrighted free use, via Wikimedia Commons)

HIEROGLYPH

Once, there was a bird that did not want to be a letter.
It threw shapes in trees, on walls,
chirruped of flight, sunlight beyond 
the bestiary of any alphabet.
A bird that did not change
its meaning when faced
with east or west — a bird, a disc, 
a bird, a disc: the flowers of heaven, the stars —
refused to place
its head upon a human body
to become a god.
A bird that knew how pictures
shrink, tails or heads
which limb is chopped
until a simple feather
stands for truth.

A bird is a bird is a bird.