The tui sings his imitative songs
up in the tree near our house. I try to
whistle back. The conversation continues
over many days, but always at cross purposes, he telling me he owns the space
around our house, I responding my wish to ask him questions about his
perceptions of my life. He repeats my
whistles but lacks the inflections of my pain.
Last spring someone offered to
prune the plum tree in the yard. The
price was cheap and soon two young boys were lopping branches. It wasn’t clear until many months later that
those lads had no sympathy for the birds who depend on us for food through the
winter. Two empty nests can be seen in
the remaining boughs.
Phrenology and physiognomy are
out-dated sciences. So too will be
coding people’s personality and character by their DNA.
Take out the sports, the
entertainment and the celebrity events and what is there left on the news?
There is too much danger in
exposing the weaknesses of those now passed away and yet cherished by many were
close to them; it would be better, therefore, to only make fun of oneself, were
it not for those who depend on my memory.
My memories will be of failures without self-mockery.
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