Word of the Day: Forbid

Ban the forest birds from singing. Watch the richness fade.

Love songs muted kill their numbers — choruses betrayed.

Flowers that rely on feathers wither in the light —

Petalled gems that brighten stems are stolen from our sight.

If a songbird does not sing, does it still exist?

It may fly and feed, lacking deeper purposes.

          Leaders blindly follow edicts from outdated tomes

That mention nought of cosmic atoms or of chromosomes. 

They may ban, forbid our love, from their Brittle Tower —

They won't bar us from existence. They won't steal our power.