For the Love of Birds — Video & Original Poem

in #life6 years ago (edited)

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Ever since a pigeon laid an egg in a flower pot on my balcony, I’ve become inordinately fond of birds.

Since then I’ve had many heartwarming adventures with these gentle, winged creatures - including helping them make their nest, feeding and raising their young.

The picture above, for example, is with a young pigeon who lost his dad before he could teach him how to fly - so I became especially close to him.

Eventually, when the little guy did learn to fly he would return to my balcony every evening, at 5pm, to groom my beard (and nose hairs!) as a kind of appreciation.

Here’s a video of me feeding one of my pigeons, after she laid 2 eggs:

Pigeons take parenting very seriously, with mama shouldering the bulk of the burden - sitting on the eggs from 5pm - 10am when papa shows up, like clockwork, for his sitting duty.

I hope you enjoy my poem, below:

What the Sunset Said

Something happened as the light was dying
it wasn’t just post-coital exhalation

where the once-possessed body is used up

and all that remains is bodiless trance

Rather, it seemed they were mirroring
a preternatural stillness,

two spiritual sentinels

transfixed and somehow Other

Science calls it “twilight calibrated magnetic compass”
yet it appeared beyond mere direction-finding

more a kind of existential orientation

consolidating all they knew, and listening

with their entire being, participating

silently, in a universal hymn

until they were pulled, as out of a viscous substance,

by the hungry cry of their nearby young

to become two feral pigeons, again

with this-world considerations

parenting, foraging, keeping alive

and, dazed, they consented to their stations.

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until they were pulled, as out of a viscous substance,
by the hungry cry of their nearby young

I really liked the way you characterized these lines. It is a beautiful way to protray the cycle of life and the experience of parenting for many species beyond birds. Thanks for sharing.

Many thanks, for your close attentions, @Moeknows.

It was a kind of spiritual experience watching the birds at sunset and, as you rightly point out, it mirrors the human experience. This, too, pigeons taught me: we are One 🙏🏼

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