Essay 4: corporation of the sparrow's realm:


So there I was, living outside in the downtown core of vancouver, bc, canada; practically a vagrant digging up what sustenances i could - and all this as far as I can remember. (These writings are the result of many many experiences - though sadly with a bit of memory impairment due to an over use of the herb cannabis.)

To make this an introductory piece of writing, and as practice for my literary skills (if I have any!) I will be a little more brief than I would be ordinarily... as in my opinion details are important, this one is extraordinary enough in the detailing so I will put it forth as follows:

...there I was, the night before I had laid out the piece of plastic upon the grass as a moisture barrier while I slept in my sleeping bag in a public park in a neighborhood called 'the west end'.

And I awoke that morning to a most peculiar multitude of sounds in the trees overhanging me - the group of a sound of brown sparrows - to be more precise.

Basically, my mind was pulled out of its' subconscious state and my conscious attention at that point was drawn toward the life making noises of the sparrows, which as I grew more and more aware of the sounds they were making, the more aware I became that they were conversing in an approximation of bird english.

I was amazed. I was more than amazed. The implications of this now fact, to me, had suddenly become something so profound that I just lay there, quietly freaking out frozen in my sleeping bag, listening to the sparrows right above me. I thought that the only way someone would be able to see this as I had, must have had some agreement of the birds to make noises which are english like.. meaning also that they could choose an enigmatic bird conversation style rather than english if they chose... being around mankind long enough must have given them much opportunity to watch us I deduced...

And listening more intently, as I was a little entranced by these noises, it seemed they were discussing a migration of diseases seagulls from garbage dumps in the south coming up to this area...

It was all strange enough, but I couldn't lay still much longer. I turned over and began to uncover myself and look up, but the sparrows all flew away and so I just packed up my stuff and looked for a free cigarette, trying to remember that I had to write this one down.... so here it is. I wrote it down.