< the birds >

[rayheinrich]

           
            Bird On Barbed Wire Fence   -   Jason Gillyon

                                        < the birds >

                                        not muslims
                                        not christians
                                        not jews

                                        their gods
                                        unlike the others
                                        can be heard
                                              - - -




While criticism is not required, it is sincerely to be hoped for. (Off or On-topic remarks and clever abuse are appreciated as well.)

[vagabond]

there´s something you wish to say. but i don´t find the key because i don´t know if "their" refers to "muslims, christians and jews" or to "the birds".

[ellajam]

I'm enjoying this one, hard to doubt the purity of birdsongs and their variety is pretty awe-inspiring, I may not understand what they're saying but I hear them loud and clear.

[rayheinrich]

there´s something you wish to say. but i don´t find the key because i don´t know if "their" refers to "muslims, christians and jews" or to "the birds".

If I structure it as a sentence with a few punctuation marks, then the "their" there can be seen to refer to them and not them:

The birds are not muslims, not christians, not jews; their gods, unlike the others, can be heard.

Of course, this masks the second and third metaphors and damps the cognitive dissonance to an unacceptably low level (IMHO)*.




*Just messing with you.

I'm enjoying this one, hard to doubt the purity of birdsongs and their variety is pretty awe-inspiring,
I may not understand what they're saying but I hear them loud and clear.

    I don't understand what any of them are saying. So, if given the choice, I'll take the bright-colored ones that
    sing over the ones that come to my door selling various mutually-exclusive salvations.

[ellajam]

there´s something you wish to say. but i don´t find the key because i don´t know if "their" refers to "muslims, christians and jews" or to "the birds".

If I structure it as a sentence with a few punctuation marks, then the "their" there can be seen to refer to them and not them:

The birds are not muslims, not christians, not jews; their gods, unlike the others, can be heard.

Of course, this masks the second and third metaphors and damps the cognitive dissonance to an unacceptably low level (IMHO)*.




*Just messing with you.

I'm enjoying this one, hard to doubt the purity of birdsongs and their variety is pretty awe-inspiring,
I may not understand what they're saying but I hear them loud and clear.

    I don't understand what any of them are saying. So, if given the choice, I'll take the bright-colored ones that
    sing over the ones that come to my door selling various mutually-exclusive salvations.

amen

[vagabond]

1. if "their" is refered to the various believers (and i use that word in a derogatory way although it can also mean something beautiful) then i would have interpreted "heard" in the way of "listening to a preacher"

2. if their refers to the birds i interpret "heard" as "experienced" .

i only tried to heighten the cognitive dissonance by interpreting. the second interpretation here makes more sense to me.

[Leanne]

When I was small,
I thought the wrens were fairy steeds.

Later, after Holy Communion,
I knew that fairies weren't real
but God was,

so the wrens were His messengers:
taking prayers, bringing answers.

I knew the postman was a man,
taking letters to other men. Logic
said: God must also be a wren,
and Heaven His celestial nest.

I watched the wrens
darting through the air,
protecting their young,
nurturing,
bringing pleasure to all,
and I realised

God is not a wren after all.
He's a tit.

[billy]

if there is a god it can be found in birdsong much better than in actions of man

           
            Bird On Barbed Wire Fence   -   Jason Gillyon


                                                        < the birds >

                                                        not muslims
                                                        not christians
                                                        not jews

                                                        their gods
                                                        unlike the others
                                                        can be heard

                                                              - - -





While criticism is not required, it is sincerely to be hoped for. (Off or On-topic remarks and clever abuse are appreciated as well.)

[nibbed]

Though I don't agree with the philosophy of the poem, I love your choice of imagery, it is always very good and top of the line. This poem and pic made me feel, well...sad, but calm. I thought about a view the Birdman of Alcatraz might have had. Perhaps it was something like this. I want to say love is the only reason, but I suppose he was able to convince birds to fly in his window because he offered them something they needed for survival, food. He would have had to show care and a great love to them, too, because animals can sense things. I imagine he loved and respected them very much, the birds in turn gave him distraction from his loneliness and sorrow by performing or singing. I guess that's why I felt sad and calm while taking in all of your poem and pic, I thought about the Birdman of Alcatraz and the images I remembered as a child watching a movie about him. Thank you for sharing.

janine

[Lizzie]

I don't understand what any of them are saying. So, if given the choice, I'll take the bright-colored ones that
sing over the ones that come to my door selling various mutually-exclusive salvations.

It's too bad there's no Congregation of Girl Scouts Thin Mints. I'd go to that church.

[RiverNotch]

the abrahamic focus and the barbed wire made me think this was a commentary on palestine. exclude that, and the ambiguity feels troubling -- not because this implies the abrahamic gods are silent, which, depending on the point of view, can be either a dignified or a blasphemous position, but because "their" could also apply to the abrahamic gods themselves, which would mean an exclusion of other cultures, philosophies, and religions, especially in light of treating silence as bad. of course, that is a bit of a stretch, considering the three "not"s leading the piece, and returning to the image, it sort of works? if it is a comment, if not on geopolitics, then on the chaos of trying to find voices in the wind, i don't think it really says anything -- at this point i think the best of us don't care if they can't really hear anything, and the rest are skilled liars. my suggestion would be put this in a place, show us bits beyond the bird on the wire -- yeah, palestine, or at least something that would hammer in the thought. the feeling is there, definitely, and now i might want to take up studying birdsongs....

[ellajam]

I don't understand what any of them are saying. So, if given the choice, I'll take the bright-colored ones that
sing over the ones that come to my door selling various mutually-exclusive salvations.

It's too bad there's no Congregation of Girl Scouts Thin Mints. I'd go to that church.

Nah, someday you might get a craving for a chocolate chip, or oatmeal, or oreo. Then it's off to hell with you.