{"id":34997,"date":"2024-11-01T11:39:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=34997"},"modified":"2024-11-01T11:39:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:39:50","slug":"pigeon-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/pigeon-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigeon Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Then, miracle of miracles, mama returned, having somehow survived the vicious falcon attack! And, I realized, in the striking words of inventor Nikola Tesla: \u201cI loved that\u00a0pigeon\u00a0as a man loves a\u00a0woman.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yahia Lababidi<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some years ago, I found a bird egg in a flowerpot on my balcony and, shortly thereafter, went bird mad. I ended up raising generations of wild pigeons and bonding with their young.\u00a0The sound of pigeons cooing became music to my ears and a kind of blessing, assuring me that all was well with the world.<\/p>\n

According to the Quran, all creatures give thanks, mountains and trees included. As a pigeon fancier, I believe that I daily witnessed something akin to this around sunset, when my feathered friends would enter a kind of trance.<\/p>\n

Prose fails to do this elusive state justice. Below is a poem I wrote that attempts to convey its mystery:<\/p>\n

What the Sunset Said<\/p>\n

Something happened as the light was dying
\nit wasn\u2019t just post-coital exhalation
\nwhere the once-possessed body is used up
\nand all that remains is bodiless trance<\/p>\n

Rather, it seemed they were mirroring
\na preternatural stillness,
\ntwo spiritual sentinels
\ntransfixed and somehow Other<\/p>\n

Science calls it \u201ctwilight calibrated magnetic compass\u201d
\nyet it appeared beyond mere direction-finding
\nmore a kind of existential orientation
\nconsolidating all they knew, and listening<\/p>\n

with their entire being, participating
\nsilently, in a universal hymn
\nuntil they were pulled, as out of a viscous substance,
\nby the hungry cry of their nearby young<\/p>\n

to become two feral pigeons, again
\nwith this-world considerations
\nparenting, foraging, keeping alive
\nand, dazed, they consented to their stations.<\/p>\n

\n

Pigeon loyalty is a remarkable thing. Witness this video of a youngster<\/a>, born and raised on my balcony in the same flowerpot. When he lost both his parents, he bonded with me, deeply. Since the father had not taught the squab to fly, as they typically do when their offspring are around a month old, the young pigeon remained on my balcony, alone, until a couple of adult pigeons adopted him and taught him to fly away.<\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t stay away for long: As a show of his gratitude, this sweet bird continued to visit with me on my balcony every evening at the same time (around 5 pm), unmistakably saying \u201cthank you,\u201d by grooming my eyebrows, beard and even nose hairs! This went on for several months and I looked forward to these precious moments with the bird every day.<\/p>\n

One morning, I awoke to see, out of the corner of my eye, a falcon swoop down onto our balcony and carry a mama pigeon off the eggs on which she was sitting. This happened in an instant. The sky seemed to darken, and then the predator was off with his fast food. On the balcony, everywhere, the signs of a pitiable struggle: feathers all about and two unattended eggs, a day or so shy of hatching. Instinctively, I brought the eggs in, though I wasn\u2019t exactly sure how to keep them warm. Only moments later, a terribly beautiful falcon returned, presumably looking for those eggs.<\/p>\n