Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.55.0306162256540.10116@panix2.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>,
"WRYTING-L : Writing and Theory across Disciplines" <WRYTING-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject: The Bird
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 22:57:06 -0400 (EDT)
The Bird Today Azure and I walked by a school-yard and she found a sick or wounded pigeon, its legs loose and unable to function, flopping in the grass, unable to fly - what to do - if it had remained there, it would have been quite possibly tortured by the children. Azure wrapped the bird in a piece of cloth and we took it back to the loft, where we put it in a box, gave it some small pieces of bread, which it didn't eat, and covered it again. Azure took the bird into the back garden, which is isolated from both stray cats and the street, and right now, in the dark, it's huddled down there, in a towel-nest, surrounded by bread-crumbs, with a shallow cup of water nearby. It can't fly, its legs are paralyzed. It's the saddest little thing. We don't know what to do. We're going to Pennsylvania, to my father's house, in three days. We're trying to keep it alive. Tomorrow, Azure will call Audubon, and we might also take it to the vet. We can't afford anything - we're dependent on their willingness to help. We will try to find a wildlife rehabilitator. I doubt the bird will ever fully heal. If it's sick, we don't know if it's dangerous to us as well. Azure talked about keeping it here in the loft in a cage, but that's really impractical. Right now I'm typing upstairs, and down in the garden, suffering is ongoing. Buddhism has never helped my rage against the world and its pain, exacerbated as always by human rapacity. We're trapped until tomorrow. We hope the bird makes it through the night. If it does, we don't know what we'll do. ___