A Blackbird's Take on World Peace |
The Blackbird Gospel There is a blackbird blanket on my lawn. Perhaps they flew south for the winter in search of warmer weather. What a surprise when they landed here in a rare cold spell. The air is icy, crisp, clear, and the sky is streaked with branches reaching upwards, full of blackbirds vying for a spot closer to heaven, not so unlike the rest of us. I am not the bird watching type; never cared to learn the genus and species, the habits, the language. It was enough for me just to recognize the color, the markings; to appreciate the weightless wonder of their tiny bodies. But then I saw one on the windowsill today. His eyes darted from me to the room behind, then made contact with mine. More curious than afraid, he steadied his gaze and watched … me. Funny how looking into another’s eyes can makes one seem more real; more, shall I say, human. Eyes connecting can turn a bird into a fellow being; a man or woman into a brother or a sister. They can start a war or melt a heart. They can make us incapable of ignoring the singular among the masses. I wondered then if he saw me as a fellow being, or an enemy, a predator. Did the act of looking into my eyes make me less like the masses of humans he flies above and more like one single human who shares with him a tiny particle of God, an equal place in this universe? He blinked then flew away, joining the masses filling bare branches like fruit hanging from a fertile tree. I followed him with my gaze until he became indistinguishable among his tribe of blackbirds. What if more of us humans could look at each other, eye to eye, more curious than afraid, no matter what tribe we called our own? Can you imagine a world like this? SWPoet January 9, 2010 Poet's Note: I hesitated to use the word "gospel" but when I looked up the definition, I could see that perhaps the blackbird's lesson does have some similarities to the teachings of Jesus and many other prophets and wise voices. Perhaps it isn't so important which teacher's words, which code of man in his connection with his higher power, resonates most within us, but that we respect the voices heard in the souls of each of us humans, individually and among our families and tribes. For this reason, I believe the animals should have a gospel all their own. May they speak with their eyes and may we "hear" with our hearts since we are deaf to their voices, and may we treat each other with the same respect. |