“Unfinished Ode to A
Cardinal”
17 December 1999
Birds. I do not know much about birds. Do know that they are everywhere and come in various shapes and sizes and make all sorts of different sounds and that there are finches, robins, crows, blackbirds, sparrows, eagles, hawks, buzzards, parrots, blue jays, ravens, parakeets, pigeons, seagulls, storks, cranes, swallows, falcons, owls, hummingbirds, geese, ducks, cuckoos, chickens, turkeys, swans, ostriches, road runners, vultures, pelicans, flamingos, condors, magpies, peacocks, egrets, woodpeckers, orioles, wrens, pheasants, quail, doves, sandpipers, whip-poor-wills, martins and mynahs but beyond that and being a "target" of a very young hunter, sorry, birds have always been just part of the scenery for me and little else. But now, here, here where I live, there is and for sometime now, has been, this cardinal, who whenever I see him, which seems to be everyday, peeks at his reflection in the side mirror of one of our cars for hours on end.
I
believe the universe “talks” to us, tries to tell us things of importance all
the time but most times, we are to blind to see them or understand what the message
is, even if we do somehow become aware that we are being talked to.
This
cardinal. He is the universe talking to
me but I am not sure the message.
He
is a real cardinal. Others have seen
him when I pointed him out to them so this red bird, this cardinal, is not some
extension of my imagination, not some ghost only I can see, not some mystical
manifestation for my eyes only but what is the universe trying to tell me?
For
sure, I get the message that birds live longer than one year or even several
years which is the opposite of what I thought I got told or read somewhere as I
thought that because they could fly and burned so much energy in the process
that the literally burned themselves up quickly and thus only lived for a year
or so. Also, I thought I knew that
because birds could fly and burned so much energy, they spent almost all their
waking hours looking for and consuming food.
But apparently not or at least not for this one cardinal as he
spends hours a day peeking at his mirrored reflection.
But
all that is biology, mechanics, science and surely not the message coming out
of the heavens to me.
It is his behavior, his love affair or hatred for his image which is the message I am sure. And does it matter if he hates his image or loves his image? I think not.
I
assume it is the same bird. 5 years now
and counting.
This
last fall, I did not see him for several weeks and thought perhaps that either
he had died or perhaps moved away or perhaps he was finished peeking at himself,
having resolved some deep psychological conflict but yesterday and today, he is
back.
I
hear him first and then look to see and today, I felt a certainly happiness
when I caught sight of him again.
Still. He still lives and lives
here and it was like seeing an old
friend again. Or. Could it be they there is a whole family of
cardinals which have inherited or been taught this mirror peck behavior?
Peeking
at himself in the mirror.
Somehow
those words, describing his behavior, are the message to me.
You
would think that this behavior, this time spent in a non-food gathering, non-family nurturing
activity would be detrimental to Mr. Cardinal but apparently not, as he lives on
year after year but why does he do it? What could a
bird be getting out of the mirror peck activity?
Can birds be psychotic or neurotic? Does he experience anger when he sees himself in the mirror? Is he or she, kissing themselves in the mirror with all the peeking?
I watched him for a long time yesterday as he pecked away at his reflection and after a while, I just seemed to accept his pecking and was glad he was here with me. Friends to a screwed up bird and maybe that is all there is to "the message". What's next? Friends to the wind or a cloud?