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The Owl and I

Upon a branch
Sat the Owl,
That perfectly witty fowl.
"I thought you slept," said I
To this marvel of the night,
This oracle of flight.
"But now, I merely muse,"
Said the Owl in reply
With a tired little sigh.
"You what?" said I.
"I muse," said he
As he opened his yellow eye
And shook his horned and feathered head."
"You've been sleeping in my stead," he said,
"So I've been spending time in yours."
"But what can you do in my stead
Since you're nothing but an Owl?"
Said I to the fowl.
"The only thing that can do
Instead of you
Is sit here on this branch
Quite confused
In my reverie of muse.
But it isn't fair," he said,
"For you are doing my job
And I am doing yours."

Well, I was quite amazed,
And perhaps a little crazed
At this wordiness of bird
And his flightiness of word.
"Tell me, Sir," I said
To the winged bird of prey,
"Of the things inside your head,
Of what you have to say."

"Now see here!" said he,
"I've been sitting on this limb -
I said sitting on this limb -
For about two thousand years
And now you scratch yourself
And open up your eyes
And then your ears
And see me sitting here,
And you think that I
Should teach you how to fly.
Indeed!" said he, "Indeed, what a sin!"
Said this wiseman of the sky.
"But how do I begin?" I pried.
"You can surely tell me that!" I cried;
"You can surely tell me that."
"There is one thing, I suppose,"
He said as he arose,
"That since you've been so bold,
You might as well be told."

Well now, I must admit
That I was frightened just a bit,
But puzzled maybe more
'Bout the message that he bore,
For he had a strange resemblance,
Or maybe just a semblance,
To a Greek I'd known of yore.
As I sat there and I listened,
His orbs began to glisten
With a golden luminescence
That was crystalline in essence
That I'd never seen before.

He said, "The things that you must do
To take the magic journey
Are to shed yourself of burden
And stand upon the turtle
To get a bird's eye view
Of the things your fellows do;
Then turn your eyes to the sky
And ask yourself why."

"I see," said I, as he handed me his claw.
He said, "I'd tell you more but it's sticking in my craw.

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