The Sparrow – An Unlikely Hero. Poem by Rajesh Thankappan

Let me narrate to you this heroic tale
Which, at sea, was once told to me by a whale.

It is the story of a little sparrow
Who unluckily was hit by an arrow.

The story as told by the whale goes thus
I shall narrate it to you without any fuss.

Once it happened that a hunter arrived in a forest
And this caused among the birds a lot unrest.

For it was said when this hunter held a bow
Arrows would fly out of it and many a bird mow.

Just to sharpen his skill the hunter took an aim
At a sparrow, our hero, who was actually not his game.

But the bird was not quick enough to evade this blow
Yet I do admit he tried his best though.

He in wild alarm let out a piercing shriek
The arrow landed in his mouth after striking his beak.

It was plain luck that he didn’t get killed
For it would have been a different story had God not so willed.

The arrow thus got planted in the bird’s pink little mouth
However hard he tried to, he could not spill it out.

The sparrow, as you guessed, could not call out for help
Or in his dire misery cry or yelp.

The miserable bird had not the remotest inkling or clue
What he in this precarious situation should do.

It was then that he spotted a brightly spotted snake
Slithering silently besides a placid lake.

The sparrow with his mouth struck with the arrow
Dared to risk his life, his bones and his marrow.

Fluttering his tiny wings he landed just in front of the snake
For he knew, for a snake, he was no less tempting than a cake.

The sparrow in this venture did not betray any sign of fear
This excited the snake who slithered near.

The snake who saw the sparrow said in a feeble voice firm
‘I shall swallow the bird who seems busy swallowing a worm! ’

Without wasting a second the snake pounced upon the sparrow
And alas, into his mouth went the dreaded arrow.

He kept on sucking it in so as to reach the bird
And it was then that the sparrow did something unthought-of or unheard.

He fearlessly planted his feet around the snake’s dreaded mouth
And exerting himself backward, pulled himself out.

Now tell me friends, is that not for a little bird a big and daring feat?
And that is why his name is celebrated on land and in the oceans deep