A blackbird whispered to me
Through his beak I heard him speak
You can fly, and I shall teach
Use my wings, just spread and reach
Flap three times and take a jump
And then you’ll be away
With the fairies you shall be
And you shall see a finer day.
But, you won’t need your legs
So you can let me try them out
I’ll put them on and I’ll have
Extra legs to run about.
And gladly I exchanged
Because there really was no contest
I had new wings, he had my legs
A fool could see which gift was best.
I flew just as long as I could
Until my wings grew weak
I asked the blackbird how to land
And he began to shriek
Don’t you know that you need legs
To swoop and hit the floor
You gave yours to me and now
My two plus yours mean four
Your desires are misguided
Why do all men want to fly?
Now you’ll live an eternity
Of hardship in the sky.