Dammit, Sherman, now I've got to go off & try to write that poem about the birds that inhabited the upper reaches of the U of Illinois library in Urbana when I was there! You'd have thought it was an atrium. Presumably, they were there for enlightenment, not just to be near fellow flyers. FYI, my mother had a great phobia of birds.
Yes., sometimes in Home Depot too. And I never know whether they're stuck or thrilled to be beyond getting removed. I had a friend who worked in Costco and said the birds were a sanitary issue no one could figure out how to address.
Perhaps the bird was an invasive species, seeking to return to his ancestral homelands. Perhaps he found a way into the cargo hold of a jumbo jet and made it to what should have been his home, if not for the intervention of humans.
I wonder if the birds there understood him, with his American- accented song. Did he still feel like an outsider?
Did he land instead in a different country, to continue his invasive heritage? Maybe he only grew up with invasive species and wanted to see what it was like to be bad-ass like them?
OR, did he get to the airport and decide that his life here wasn't so bad, but he had made such a big deal of leaving and had a blowout goodbye party with his friends and so couldn't return to them? If he wasn't a chicken, would he be angry about being accused of 'chickening out'?
"SO FINE . . . " I like how the bird is flying, light as a bird, so to speak, all around, in what seems from the picture to be bright and open space (yet really closed), and then we're led to the dark, heavy closing, but still "radiant."
I meant the bird! But … thinking about it… anyone who is brave enough to put their thoughts on paper are by definition coping with life better… ok that’s purely my personal opinion 🫣🙂🤗
Small, radiant, and probably doomed... I can relate.
Thank you, Deborah.
A few days after you posted this, I was in an airport and a bird flew over me. I wonder how often the end up in airports?
Nailed it!
Thank you, Sir. Juxtaposition is my middle name . . .
Dammit, Sherman, now I've got to go off & try to write that poem about the birds that inhabited the upper reaches of the U of Illinois library in Urbana when I was there! You'd have thought it was an atrium. Presumably, they were there for enlightenment, not just to be near fellow flyers. FYI, my mother had a great phobia of birds.
Thanks. It reminds me of the disaster movie 2012 starring John Cusack whom I have personally alerted to geoengineering. https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/geoengineering-watch-global-alert-news-july-24-2021-311/#comment-1855244
I always wonder why birds will seldom fly down to escape, I suppose it's because they have always had the sky to do so.
Your Post brought to mind the theme song from the TV show Firefly: https://youtu.be/JPwkDF5AxQM
This brings to mind the movie, Truman.
Curious. How so?
Does the bird know he is trapped or does he just go about his life not really knowing the difference between a tree canopy and airport ceiling?
Oh, yes, I see that now. How conscious is the bird?
How conscious are we?
I’m laughing in the waiting room of the car dealership!
I'm laughing too.
Yes., sometimes in Home Depot too. And I never know whether they're stuck or thrilled to be beyond getting removed. I had a friend who worked in Costco and said the birds were a sanitary issue no one could figure out how to address.
Yes, there’s not nearly as much to worry about with bird poop on lumber than bird poop on that 144 pack of eggs.
Have spent a great deal of time in the Detroit Metro airport!! Wonderful poem!!!
Thank you, Colette!
I love the couplets with perfectly suited slant rhyme to what I read as loss and and even hope in the last couplet of radiance and doom.
And hymns are formal and, in English, almost always rhyme.
Excellent point. I'd not thought of that. Great work.
Heroic couplets for a heroic bird…
Love it. We share a love of prosody. Sherman.
Perhaps the bird was an invasive species, seeking to return to his ancestral homelands. Perhaps he found a way into the cargo hold of a jumbo jet and made it to what should have been his home, if not for the intervention of humans.
I wonder if the birds there understood him, with his American- accented song. Did he still feel like an outsider?
Did he land instead in a different country, to continue his invasive heritage? Maybe he only grew up with invasive species and wanted to see what it was like to be bad-ass like them?
OR, did he get to the airport and decide that his life here wasn't so bad, but he had made such a big deal of leaving and had a blowout goodbye party with his friends and so couldn't return to them? If he wasn't a chicken, would he be angry about being accused of 'chickening out'?
Chickens can be very brave.
They’re wonderful creatures.
"SO FINE . . . " I like how the bird is flying, light as a bird, so to speak, all around, in what seems from the picture to be bright and open space (yet really closed), and then we're led to the dark, heavy closing, but still "radiant."
Thank you, Mr. Lourie! I was going for that juxtaposition.
and your images of your airport abbot will stay with me, I'm sure for as many
years. I sometimes see sparrows in the Costco rafters and try to figure whether they're living there with purpose or are also doomed.
In Costco! I've never noticed a bird in Costco. Now I'm intrigued by the thought.
Good stuff. The stuff of dreams.
Thank you, David.
Beautiful piece! I love watching and following anyone who copes better than I.
Hahahahaha!
"Why are you following me?"
"Because you cope."
I meant the bird! But … thinking about it… anyone who is brave enough to put their thoughts on paper are by definition coping with life better… ok that’s purely my personal opinion 🫣🙂🤗
Hahahhahaha. I don't think writers have a solid history of coping! Ha! Perhaps it's just the hope of coping that fills the pages.
I know what you mean. But sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps one alive. My dad is one of those