Better Than Birdmen

       "I'll always be a wordman, better than a birdman"

        Jim Morrison wrote those words.
        I was 15 when I read them, and I didn't understand.
        Now I get it.
        And it only took 20 years.

        Wordmen can read and write and speak
        But birdmen can fly.
        All we can do is watch.
        Wordmen can't fly.
        They can only write love letters one person will read
        and write books that make us cry
        and poetry that inspires us
        and songs for us to sing along or alone
        and tell jokes to make us laugh.
        They can record our history.
        They just can't fly.

         If we gave up words for wings,
         flight would soon mean no more than walking in circles

         Now I get it.
         Jim was a wordman.
         He told me what I am.
         I'm a wordman.
         This is me flying.
         This is better than flying.
 
         Be better than a birdman
         Write her a loveletter.
         Be better than a birdwoman
         Read your babies bedtime stories.
         And when they say "Again",
         when they say, "Tell me a story"
         when they ask, "Will you read to me?"
         when they ask, "Can I read to you?"
         You will know they are doing something better than flying
         Because you gave them something better than wings.

         Because flying is for the birds
         And everything else is ours.

         And nothing could be better.