A magpie struts across our path We capture him in a cage of glass He never gave us a back stage pass He watches us.

By his song and dance we are impressed He seeks shiny things to line his nest And for a while we all feel blessed He entertains us.

Pretty birds with feathered breasts Want to lie astride his chest At night undress, by day confess Gathering notes on a drunken mess Indulging all things to excess He abuses us.

Feeling pressure from our gaze Each and every time he strays And our growing demands to be amazed He hates us, or so he says. He fights to escape us.

His wings are broken in the fray Amongst the dragons he’s dying to slay He doesn’t want to come out and play He refrains from us.

He flies away and hides with stealth To a place where others like himself Bask in golden rays of wealth He’s escaped us.

Surrounded by the things he sought Locked within a gilded fort Lonely with only unpaid thoughts Of all the things that can’t be bought He forsakes us.

He feels he needs to find a mate A lady bird to share his fate What true lady would contemplate Our magpie in his current state? He blames us.

Captive he grew from minor to major Fuelled by substances tasting of danger behaviour becoming ever stranger angels appearing to be his saviour He reflects us.

One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven UK Platinum records sold…

He decorates his skin with signs With secrets to engage and rhyme And looks for answers in the sky For others that can also fly Sacred or scared? He swallows twice. Would he listen to their advice? He considers us.

Older now, he bares the scars Of a life sentence in clubs and bars He wants to change but it is hard C’est la vie, for many a bard He avoids us.

He scrubs his cage til it is clean Whilst searching the menu for love supreme We ask ourselves what can this mean Can nightmares transform into dreams? He ignores us.

A few years pass and we are bored We prefer our magpies fatally flawed Then we clip their wings and remove their claws Whilst claiming that we still adore He needs us.

He’s found his one and he is home Forgiving all from his crystal dome Grateful for not being alone magpies mate for life and never roam. He accepts us.

His wings regrown are now unfurled No cage strong enough in this world he’ll sing and dance for joy on his perch so high for finally he has a reason why. He understands us.

YOUTUBE cI0Pov_dIgg Robbie Williams, Feel, Live at Knebworth

Author’s note: Magpies are intelligent and challenging. Their long tail reflects their high status in the bird world. Magpies have presence. They demand attention visually and vocally. Their colour scheme is striking – black and white with a hint of green. They are cheeky and proud. They like company and often congregate together to discuss things (in so called Parliaments). They are often despised as they have been the victims of bad press claiming they are responsible for the demise of our smaller song birds. In my opinion if Robbie Williams was a bird he would be a Magpie. This poem was inspired by the connections between the two…by reading Chris Heath’s “Feel” and “Somebody Someday” and watching the Magpies in my garden