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REFUSE TO RECALL
We have now forgotten whatit is like to take flight, to seek,to finally find a true freedomfrom an always grasping land. Once we did it out of necessity,lives incomplete, prisonerswho committed no crimesave those of thought and faith. Now we only claim to admirethose who seek what weonce did, watch them withmock awe, but deny…
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GRAMMATICALLY APART
What sets us apartfrom other specieshas little or nothingto do with self-awarenessand everything to dowith parts of speech. The birds outsidemy window shun labels,think only of eating,mating, flight, of goingand arriving, of being. They know nothing of birth,do not fear death, for itis merely a label they cannotaccept or understand. It is left to our…
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INVASION
The light has fadedand the wetland lies underits mantle of faint starlight. The birds are there, wecan hear them, but our eyesdo not allow us to see them,despite our desire to havemore time with them. They can see us, in our well lit homes, staring out,but they do not want particularly to see us. To us they…
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IN CHORUS
Deep in a small forest,a murmuring brook reflectsthe shards of sun slidingthrough the crown of pines,its whispered wisdominfinitely more clearthan the babbling of menholding the reins firmlyin distant cities of power. The birds know this well,sing of it in chorus, nature’smusic, jazz scatting thatthe graying clouds absorb,an always willing audience,and the wind rushing bycries through…
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ISN’T IT A PITY
birdsdo not knowor acceptboundaries demandfreedom to fly whereand when they will they acknowledgehereand therelook downon peoplesadly, knowinggravity is our prison and we draw linesto keepothers outourselves inour space private birds haveinfinite spaceand freedomand pityfor us
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MELODY
The melody arose from the most unexpected place.They heard it deep within the woodsand even the birds fell silentpeering around, searchingfor its unrevealed source.It carried on for several versesand then, as quickly as it cameit was gone, the final notecarried off by a spring wind.No one entered, no one leftthe woods that dayand though many…
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ABIDING NATURE
The abiding Buddha natureof birds is demonstratedby their calm ability to carryon conversations in the presenceof interacting humans, whoare too often deaf to the soundsin which nature immerses them. But when we speak to the birdsin a crude facsimile of theirnative chirp, caw and trill,they pause to listen, strainto understand us, wishingonly to let us…
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NIGHTLY PRAYERS
My mother always told me to saymy prayers before bed, which was oddgiven that she never prayed, and didn’tas far as we could tell, believe in a deity. I knew, as my Rabbi taught, that you do notseek something for yourself in prayer,and world peace and harmony did notseem on the horizon despite my entreaties.…
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HEART OF DHARMA
A single snowy egret sitson the lowest branch of a longbarren tree, where hours from nowa thousand birds will arrivefor still another evening and night. He stares at me as I am mindfullyvacuuming, watching carefully. I pause and ask if by chance heis a Buddha and he lifts his long neckand peers around in all…
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EVEN HERE
As winter closes in around us,even here, the Great Blue Heronsgo about building a nest,inviting us to watch as theymake a home of gatheredbranches and twigs, obliviousto the state of our world,of the pandemic gripping us. We watch respectfully, knowingthat in this darkest of seasons,we are about to witnessour own little miracle and willsoon bear…
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an old writer and his words 