UNDERSTANDING

When I see a red bird

Perched upon a tree

In a bleak December

Singing lustily

I won't say it's happy

Though its song seems so

For I sing, too, on dark days

And I ought to know ...

Know when words ring gaily out

To a listening throng

There may be a sad note

Threading through that song

Or a heart be broken

Though a laugh is heard

So it is with tenderness

I salute the bird.