Hat Stand for Birds by mythsteps published on 2023-03-30T19:34:37Z A HAT STAND FOR BIRDS In Bora Bora kings pay priests to pray for them because they believe without those pleas for mercy they’ll become hat stands after death and be forced to serve all ghosts— even those who once lived as lowly peasants. But I believe good karma must be earned through sincere action: unless you learn to serve others in this life you'll be made to stand as a hat stand in the next. Not a punishment but a blessing-- to be deprived of a chance at education would be damnation. I myself have learned much from all the work I’ve done holding hats and coats as well as umbrellas for countless others-- both high and low. Under the weight and restraint of such servitude I broke open for a moment once and in my brief high flight I looked down to see a hat stand transform into a tree-- hundreds, maybe thousands of rustling, restless birds flitted through its branches— I still hear their cries in my heart. I’m listening carefully to that cacophony— hoping I may one day perceive the glorious design of a symphony. Genre poetry