Robert Calvert

I see myself a hero while one wing falls away
And the dial approaches zero in a spiraling display
My past life flashes feverishly and lives I did not lead
Like the time I was a hero of a weird, outlandish breed
One arm of flesh and muscle and one of feathered scale
I was a hero with a wing that was of no avail
I could only fly in circles like a corkscrew in the sky
My one wing flapping frantically while birds just glided by
I launched myself from mountains and from the highest trees
Although I could get nowhere and just landed on my knees
But still I was a hero with one wing more than most
Almost half an angel, a whirling holy ghost
My father was an eagle with two wings wide as sails
My mother was the west wind witch with grasping finger nails
She lured him from his aerie with her twittering device
She kept him in a golden cage and fed him field mice