It is already far too late in the day and the dead of night will soon be here, but for once I feel alive and the urge to be somewhere else. You have been a loyal companion in my thoughts for some time, and I set out to look for you.
Warm summer sun on my back, be kind to me. I feel a single bead of sweat trickle down and sting my eye. The hill ridges carry on endlessly, with shortness of breath and drunk with fatigue I stumble but keep walking determinedly. Where are you, night owl?
I see you standing majestically, no longer forgotten and alone. I sit by your side, there is a pervasive and eerie feeling which I cannot seem to place. It is as if I no longer have a body and am not there at all. I want to scream and cry out my heart but can only stay quiet and wait. The silence is not expected to be filled, you say nothing at all, but simply stare out over the land. Forever standing watch as your granite perch slowly erodes and once talon like grasp is deprived of strength.
I am glad I came and spent this time with you, how rare and beautiful you are. Will you remember me? Will you outlive me? For your heart is carved of stone. The sun has changed her mood and there is no apology. I would give anything to hear your deepest thoughts before I let go. With sorrow, I turn my back on you.
8 comments
I see it! He is deep in thought.
Glad you see it, Geologist Green. I love the human mind’s unique capacity for imagination.
There’s an ancient myth about the pensive owl. The story tells the tale of a strong bond between the owl and a carpet snake, and their custom of sharing meat. They both hunted at night and would share their prey with one another. One night the owl’s efforts were not successful, so he wandered into the snake’s lair only to find him devouring the last scraps of his hunt. The owl was so incensed by this betrayal that an attack ensued and they fought until dawn. The owl was blinded by the sunlight which gave the snake a chance to escape and he slithered into the river, creating a large pool. The owl flew onto a large tree overlooking the pool, waiting for the snake to surface, however, the snake never returned.
I wonder if he often thinks of and misses his friend, and if the snake ever thinks of and misses him.
Could the snake have drowned?
It’s thought the snake never emerged but made tributaries upstream and downstream of the river, and these branches enabled him to keep foraging for prey. Aptly called “feeder channels”.
A romantic link in the chain of the evolution of water snakes?
I wonder if the moral of the story is one of letting go. You see, the owl has let the snake so readily and irrevocably change him, he’s wasted these past years and lost part of himself along the way. I think of what he could’ve experienced in those thousands of years, other adventures, other animals friends, love.
Although maybe he’s happy to have had the time they shared, and he’s grown and matured over these past years. He no longer seeks retribution, he left hatred at the door and has become the snake’s silent guardian.
Nice! She will outlive us.
Good to hear from you, Once. Ah, one can only hope… This is neither here nor there; the species of iconic flora in the foreground is commonly named Grasstree, yet they are neither grass nor tree!
She must be quite strong.
Hey, Pluto. I wonder if the traits of the imaginary owl perceived by the human mind are really only a depiction of how we see ourselves, and we’re really the free spirited and strong souls.