We all have wings within us by Anita Sethi

We all have wings within us.

Step inside this museum of delights,

And let your imagination take flight

To other times and other places.

We all have wings within us

Look at the wings on this incense burner here, wings

belonging to dragons, eagles and all manner of beautiful birds.

You can soar too, have you heard?

Be eagle-eyed as you look

Be dragon-like brave and breathe fire, breathe air,

See what you can dare

to become.

Think of all the winged things in this world,

from the worker bee, symbol of this great city,

dragonflies, butterflies, birds, wings unfurled,

Hear their song echo through the decades, aeons, light years of time, sing

Sing of a world broken and remade,

Sing of a world as beautiful as can be.

Sing of a world born on a wing and a prayer

Sing of all the things here so wondrous, so rare.

Walk and look, look at all the wonderful things,

So many relics, over 4.5 million, to give you wings

To worlds beyond.

Take flight on a journey through the Golden Mummies of Egypt,

Belonging: what it means to be and belong in this world,

Vivarium and herbarium: hear the call of the wild,

Remember we are part of nature, from birth,

Remember the creatures with whom we share our home, this earth,

A visit here cuts close to the bone.

Think of life, of death, of blood and gold and stone,

A journey here makes us think, it must,

Of the spirit that remains when we are turned to dust.

Journey beyond this earth, too, to outer space,

Wonder, wonder at the universe and of what it is made,

Meterorites and minerals and moss, fossils and ferns, gemstones and ore,

Wonder at your own self too and of what you are made, feel awe

That you are made of stardust,

and of the blood and sweat and tears of ancestors and all

that have breathed before us.

Wonder at what has been salvaged from the wreckage of time,

and preserved in this astonishing place.

Though earthbound we’re full of wings

Our iliac crest bone known as the wings within as we walk,

Don’t forget our feet, too, such a feat, look at creatures’ claws, paws

Pause and spread your arms out wide, turn your hands to the sky,

Open your mind, ready to take flight.

We all have wings within us
Let them unfurl, and help you soar beyond the here and now

To there and then, then back again,

Walk away, better understanding our world today.

Step inside this museum of delights,

And let your imagination take flight

On a magic carpet ride

To other times and other places.

 

We all have wings within us.