DISCLAIMER: This poem is based on characters and situations based on the book 'To Kill a Mockingbird', created and owned by Harper Lee and owned by various publishers. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
I Thought
I thought you were scary
I thought you meant me harm
I screamed when I thought I saw you
Got goosebumps on my arm
I thought you were a murderer
A criminal at least
Untamed and savage
Like some crazy wild beast
I thought you would attack me
If I ever came too near
But not once did I think
Maybe there's nothing to fear
I thought you were a monster
But I guess that I thought wrong
You were just a mockingbird
With an almost silent song
Broken by all the years you spent
Shut up in your birdhouse
Kept captive in your own home
Kept quiet as a mouse
One day you came out
And only then could I truly see
How different you were
From who I thought you to be
I thought you would be ugly
I thought you'd be insane
But instead you saved my life
And you were beautiful and tame
I have no way to repay you
For what you've given, mockingbird
All I have to give you
Is a little girl's word
That I will never again judge
On only what I've heard
And I will never, ever
shoot a mockingbird