Untitled

[Boss]

The

eaglet

is

no

more

[lizzytysh]

This has ominous tones, Adam. My mind goes directions it doesn't want to go. It's good to see you here, but I'm hoping you can lend some understanding to this writing.


~ Lizzy

[Boss]

Lizzy,

lambs, cubs, tadpoles, eaglets, all grow up

take a deep breath
and know
today is the day

eternal
and individuated
released

[Manna]

It looks to me that the eaglet fell from the nest. That thought made me pout a bit, but then your second post here seemed to give it peace. It seemed less like the eaglet was no more, and more like the eaglet had joined the unity of death. Not so sad.

[lizzytysh]

Seeing what you've written now, Adam, I feel much better. Now, in reading it [you may agree, Manna... and, then again, I may be wrong ], it seems the eaglet has taken flight and joined the ranks of the eagles . So, I wonder, is it the unity of death or the unity of flying with the rest? Needless to say which I'm hoping for... even in a simple writing.


~ Lizzy

[Manna]

Ohhhh, yeah, could be.
a little slow there. sorry.
But without part II, I don't know if I ever would have seen that.

[lizzytysh]

Well, we won't know for sure until he confirms it, either, Manna. The unofficial jury is still out... small birds do fall from the nest and not survive the fall. I doubt I'd have ever drawn my own conclusion without the second part, either. My mind was gone an entirely different direction with it all, as it was. Wait and see, eh ?


~ Lizzy

[jimbo]

what if a cuckoo was in the nest many small birds
would fall.but not the cuckoo.

[Byron]

Like the eaglet, we fall and stumble our way into maturity. No more hand-outs. No more guiding hands. We walk alone into our future, however, for some, they fly and sore above us mere mortals. We all have gifts; we all have promise; maintaining the power of flight belongs to so few...

[Steven]

Now Adam, if I'm taking that breath with Lizzy, correctly, as a breath of release as in
aaaah, seems like your poem, "Untitled," might better be titled "Entitled." -- It's
the birthright of eaglets to expand beyond their youth.

[KjeXXXer]

Would it be so terrible if it was the death of an eaglet? These things happen, and to ignore it just because it's not a very 'feel-good' subject would in my opinion be folly.
Death shouldn't be the taboo it is made out to be in the western civilization. Death's a natural part of life, however dreaded by the ones who are approaching it's boarders.

[lizzytysh]

Great point on the title, Steven and Adam... even if it were to incorporate literal death, mentioned by Axel [thinking in terms of reincarnation, who knows what the eaglet chose for this lifetime?]. Really good points you've brought here on feelings about death in the Western civilization, Axel.


~ Lizzy

[Steven]

Hi Axel,

I agree with your sentiment and am with you that "Death shouldn't be the taboo it is
made out to be in the western civilization." Some of the things in life that we
avoid tend to become far bigger boogie men than more mindfully handling them
would otherwise provide. Everyone has their own comfort level, though, and individuals
vary in ways to most safely handle the big stuff. I wouldn't, for example,
suggest that most people would benefit by a walk through Tibetan charnel grounds, though.
For one thing, Westerners, generally, don't have the cultural and emotional grounding
to handle it. Your points are well taken, Axel. My response to the poem was partially
made within the context of having read other posts and poems by Adam and the
hope that this poem of his is another indication of a more hopeful and positive
state of things for him.

[Steven]

Axel asked: "Would it be so terrible if it was the death of an eaglet?" It occurs to me now,
that Leonard Cohen in the re-released (50th anniversary) edition of his "Let Us Compare
Mythologies," has a poem where there is a death of an eaglet. The eaglet there is
still-born. I think that the poem may be called "Item," or "The Item." (Someone
with the book handy may want to say what the title definitely is.)

[lizzytysh]

Hi Steven ~

I have the book handy and it's called "Item". The length of the title sort of approximates the relative size of the bird, doesn't it? Replicates the impersonal behavior of the hunter, as well.

Item


Let the still-born eagle demonstrate
how he avoided the arrow
with its predicament of death: his closed eyes,
his half-formed feathers.
Let him teach how wise
was his early death, how the hunter
paused only a moment in the narrow path
and would not waste his arm
to cool the quick dying warmth.

And let the heroes with their promised swords
consider the darker battle:
the unthinking steel, the old but difficult flesh,
the thrust and the regret.
And let them speculate
on their chipped skeletons
moving on the dry field of death,
how very painful and loud and brittle.
Then let them remember the still-born eagle
and the young bird bones which do not hurt or rattle.


Leonard Cohen
Let Us Compare Mythologies

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.


~ Lizzy