In rooms where private thoughts take flight,
behind closed doors, in the quiet of night,
remember well this British tale,
that the air has ears that often sail.
Each muttered affliction, each resentful sigh,
may find its wings and touch the sky.
For secrets kept in mortal *******
build nests with beaks that know no rest.
These walls have feathered spies,
and flocks of lookouts in disguise.
Your words, once freed from anger's fire,
may flutter back to stir their ire.
So hold your tongue and guard your thoughts,
nature's lure intends that you get caught,
and the smallest sparrow on the breeze
may carry tales across the seas.
What is spoken in your solitude
will echo in the multitude.
Remember, that birds have ears and eyes,
and are eager to share all across the skies.
©️Lizzie Bevis
A poem inspired by the British Idiom - A little bird told me.
This carries the meaning of receiving information from a secret informant, in this case a bird.
The root source is thought to be from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 10-20:
“Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.”