THE PERSON THAT DWELLS INSIDE

THE PERSON THAT DWELLS INSIDE

The advert simply caught her eye,
“A parrot needs a home,”
His elderly owner passed away,
And left the bird alone.

She showed her husband what she’d read,
“We have the room,” she said,
“It seems so sad to think of him,
Still waiting for the dead.”

They went to see him that same day,
He watched as she drew nigh,
Then suddenly he cocked his head,
And softly whispered, “Hi.”

They brought him home and placed his cage,
Beside the window there,
But when the cat came through the door,
It stopped and raised its hair.

The parrot watched with colder eyes,
Then hissed towards the cat,
It wouldn’t enter that same room,
No matter where they sat.

Then tunes were hummed she’d never heard,
And footsteps crossed the floor,
The kettle boiled without a hand,
While shadows touched the door.

One night the parrot spoke her name,
But not the voice she knew,
A deep old man spoke from that cage,
And chilled her through and through.

The cat ran frightened from the house,
And disappeared that night,
She knew whatever lived inside,
Was something far from right.

She called a sanctuary next,
And told them, “Take him, please,”
They covered up the parrot’s cage,
But then her blood seemed cold to freeze.

“You think that you can leave me?” came,
A man’s voice from inside,
She watched the van go down the road,
And stood there terrified.

The vicar came and blessed the house,
Each doorway, wall and frame,
He prayed until the rooms felt still,
Then softly whispered, “Amen.”

The footsteps stopped, the voice was gone,
No shadow came again,
Whatever dwelled inside that bird,
Had left — and stayed with him.