The Eagle's Song

I am an Eagle.

Getting ready to soar above all that is behind me

And below me.

My wings grow stronger and courage blossoms within my soul.

My spirit has found its liberty.

Hope rises as I look out over my world.

It hasn’t always been this way, you see.

For I remember a hard, dark shell;

One that seemed impossible to shed.

Yet, it was warm and cozy on the inside,

Bright and beautiful on the outside.

I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to be free.

But that was just it:  The trap.  It was NOT free.

Just dark and hard.

There was life within, but no living.

I was stuck in what seemed like forever.

Then it happened, with one great push.

A hole, a very small hole was created in my shell.

Light flooded in.

It scared me at first.  This light was unfamiliar.

Yet it soon became a comfort and I wanted more.

So I pushed as an Unknown Force pushed with me.

Bit, by painful bit, my prison broke away.

Not all at once, mind you, but slowly.  Ever so slowly.

I began to stretch and move and breathe.

The Light became brighter, and suddenly I was free.

From that moment on I was loved and nurtured by other who had just broken free

And by some who were already flying.

My legs were weak and spindly, my wings small and useless.

I wobbled around; testing, trying, looking to the Light.

And the ones who were already flying pushed me closer

to the edge of the nest.

I balked and beat the air in protest with my wings.

The more they nudged, the more I protested.

In doing so, I noticed a strength that was growing.

I began to flap a little on my own, without their nudge

(cautiously at first, and then a bit more bravely).

As I did, my wings began to grow and take shape.

They were awkward to begin with and still are in a small way.

Yet, I have taken tiny test flights in the nest.

They are sure to hold me up.

So here I stand.  I am an Eagle.

Looking over the whole world from the edge of the nest.

Getting ready to Soar to all that I am meant to be.

To say that I am unafraid would be to lie.

But I am ready to soar!

I have been in that awful shell for much too long.

And even though I know that the flight won’t always be easy,

And that soaring won’t always be effortless,

The fact that I am an Eagle will never change.

I was born to be an Eagle,

I was born to fly free.