get thee to a rookery
maybe it's how much i work with people, but sometimes at the end of a particularly hard or socially complex day filled with words this more-introvert-than-not starts to rethink the necessary value and language of animals and our relationship with them.
with no small kinship to st. francis, i watched a deer in my backyard (simple, beautiful, hyper-aware creatures that they are. relax, i want to tell them). a hummingbird came to visit the honeysuckle while i read, my neighbor's horse comes when i call to take an apple from my hand...and i keep having to set birds free from the blueberry netting. (the first time, which we will not dwell on, i was not quick enough, alas.) but twice since i have been able to coax them out and send them on their way. they do not realize that i am trying to help and their anxious, mad flapping reminds me of us sometimes, that we could conserve a lot of energy by realizing the window to freedom is right in front of us.
on the subject of animals, my friend reminded me of two more words for the learning that seem to fit here: rookery and permaculture. a rookery being a breeding habitat for birds and a permaculture that of environmentally sustainable living; agricultural patterns established on natural ecologies.
i think that would make st. francis proud. i also think poet mary oliver is onto something in her poems on nature drawn from how much time she spends *wandering the hills alone and laying on her back in fields. *mental note to do more of this.
in terms of the rookery, like my father, i could never cage a bird, nor do i want to be caged by fears, anxieties or the opinions of others. breathe, i tell myself. on the heels of shakespeare's line from hamlet, "get thee to a nunnery", i will not run away and become a hermit or pseudo nun/oblate. it's not my style and i would only last for about three days alone anyway. but until the lion lays down with the lamb and a peaceable kingdom is established; when none of us have to look over our backs eyes wide as does with fear, i will continue to love people as much as it depends on me and yes, happily talk to the animals.
with no small kinship to st. francis, i watched a deer in my backyard (simple, beautiful, hyper-aware creatures that they are. relax, i want to tell them). a hummingbird came to visit the honeysuckle while i read, my neighbor's horse comes when i call to take an apple from my hand...and i keep having to set birds free from the blueberry netting. (the first time, which we will not dwell on, i was not quick enough, alas.) but twice since i have been able to coax them out and send them on their way. they do not realize that i am trying to help and their anxious, mad flapping reminds me of us sometimes, that we could conserve a lot of energy by realizing the window to freedom is right in front of us.
on the subject of animals, my friend reminded me of two more words for the learning that seem to fit here: rookery and permaculture. a rookery being a breeding habitat for birds and a permaculture that of environmentally sustainable living; agricultural patterns established on natural ecologies.
i think that would make st. francis proud. i also think poet mary oliver is onto something in her poems on nature drawn from how much time she spends *wandering the hills alone and laying on her back in fields. *mental note to do more of this.
in terms of the rookery, like my father, i could never cage a bird, nor do i want to be caged by fears, anxieties or the opinions of others. breathe, i tell myself. on the heels of shakespeare's line from hamlet, "get thee to a nunnery", i will not run away and become a hermit or pseudo nun/oblate. it's not my style and i would only last for about three days alone anyway. but until the lion lays down with the lamb and a peaceable kingdom is established; when none of us have to look over our backs eyes wide as does with fear, i will continue to love people as much as it depends on me and yes, happily talk to the animals.
Comments
Post a Comment