Glass Heart with Silver Wings

We were once children that knew love without fear, our hearts flew with silver wings across the snow and into spring. We laughed, cried, but most of all loved freely. Those wings were clipped at a young age with the learning of keeping secrets that should never happen. Learning to forget instead of forgive, the wings grew weary and forgot how to fly, a glass heart with silver wings, so fragile, and yearning to learn how to fly again.

The secrets grew and kept us more and more weighed down. My mother used to say that you could keep a bird from flying if you put salt on its tail, try getting close enough to a non tame bird and see if you can attempt this, the lesson is quickly learned that only a wounded bird or a dead one will allow such an approach. If you can put salt on the birds tail, it is unable to fly anyway. Nurture that wounded bird, and with a little skill and a lot of luck the bird may one day fly again, and you’ll never be able to put salt on its tail feathers. Is the heart the same way?

Can the heart heal, or is it like glass, once fractured always broken. Since I am speaking of the non organic heart, one’s inner ability to love self and others I shall say that though the heart may be shattered like glass, it resembles the organic in that it can heal, healing though is a painful process, as painful as cleaning broken glass by walking over it barefoot. It can involve confrontation, most of all it involves bringing the truth to light. Speaking of what should not be.

Some believe that if you know the TRUE name of a thing, then you can tap into its power, know the Name of a spirit/demon and you can have some power over it. Giving names and words spoken to our pain is the same. It brings them under our control instead of us as slaves to them. A secret only has its power as long as it is not spoken of, as long as it is not confronted. Over our lives we witness and endure much pain that we turn into secrets. This has driven many mad, and many to an early grave of choice.

I recently witnessed a miracle, a little bird whose name means courage, started to sing and stretch her silver wings again. She sang a song that filled some with anger, others with confusion and tears, but the birds song was one of truth, one that she had to sing in order to learn how to stretch out her wings and begin her long sought flight. Those who had poured salt on her tail and thought her to weak to fly again, down believing their salt held power over her heart, their secrets wrapped around her like chains. The chains proved an illusion as she began the song; the salt fell from her feathers as she spread her wings and began to fly. One has been crying since she took flight, another taken to anger, both in confusion for lack of understanding.

My mother used to find wounded birds and mend their wings, and attempt to nurse them to health, they sometimes died, and sometimes grew strong enough to fly again. It was always hard for me when the time came to release the wild bird back to the world, but my Mom taught me that the bird was happiest in flight, and that could only happen when it was free, so it is with the hearts flight.

I am trying to learn from the bird whose name means Courage, learn to give name to my demons, and learn that I too can fly, that those who put salt on my tail feathers were mistaken, I can fly again, all that is needed is the courage to spread my wings once more and forget the fear of falling.