Learning How To Be Human

Cherry

By onemorething

Thu, 09 Apr 2020
  • 2609 reads
9 comments
 

Each cowbird egg hatches its surprise,

the urge to live and love

overcomes the stark disparities

between chick and alien parent and

overwhelmed with the need for survival,

it cultivates connection in foreign songs.

A teenage cowbird nurses suspicions,

sneaks out at night to loiter 

in fields and mingle with peers.

And it took years of scouring books,

unwinding the meanings of words,

to find other cowbirds between the lines

upon a page before I realised 

that I was learning how to be human.
 

Read an article about how cowbirds learn to be cowbirds. (Moo.)

Image from wikimedia commons:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cowbird_egg.JPG

Certificate U
Poem
Unclassified

Comments

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks for the cherries! :)

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

A very instructive poem about an avian brood parasite which grows outside its parental controls and a metaphor for the relationship between alienated parents and teenagers with contrasting expectations, attitudes and behaviour. Well written and to the point.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Thanks Luigi. The article I was reading was also discussing the negative views of brood parasites, but pointed out that it's very complex behaviour and has admirable aspects. I thought it was interesting too to look at it from the aspect of the chick having alien parents as opposed to the other way round. Thank you for reading it. Rachel x

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

They are the same as cuckoos?

This struck a chord with me, as my parents were very disappointed :0)

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Yes, they are. And yes, I entirely empathised with the chicks trying to leam to adapt. Thank you for reading it, Di, and your comment. :)

 

 

Submitted by catherine poarch on

Brilliant end. I didn't know where it was going and then - the thing we are all trying to be and find in each other. Liked it a lot.

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Oh good. I do think that it is a bit of a flaw that my metaphor is not properly apparent until the end, it's made me think I might save it for a bit of a rewrite at some point, so thank you for that and thanks for reading. :)

 

Submitted by catherine poarch on

No, don't change it! I like the way the punch line hits you.smiley

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Ok. Well, it can stay this way for now! But I do have a tendency to write something and think I'm done with it and they are always improved with time and an edit. I think I am wilfully lazy. :)