Malcolm Alexander
 
GESTURE
 
At a temple in Bangkok
you can purchase a living dove
for less than you'd think,
 
but the idea is not
to keep it, as pet or meal,
but to free it,
 
as gesture, such pure joy
in symbolism, you think,
until you come to learn
 
the bird is trained
and will return later
to be paid for
 
and released again. The cynic
in you says, enough
of gestures, but this one
 
is more profound than you might think,
for when it comes to freedom,
the down payment is cheap and easy.
 
It's the installments that kill you.