the return of the sun
blue skies
bird song
the immaculate day
starts at dawn
bathed in photonic radiation
the dream dissolves
fade out into the fade in
i watch the play of light from the balcony
pansy sits beside me sleeping, his tail twitches
a bird flies down to the table, he looks at me.
a raven or a crow
i have always been a friend to ravens and crows
they are my spirit friends
i understand them and they me...
once a crow / raven flew into my window at mission control
he strutted around and then stopped by the sink for a drink.
i had some nice ambient music playing, burning some myrrh, i threw the bird a cracker. the raven crow sat with me and cocked his eye as if to say 'cheers' then he hopped up and flew out. it was a short visit and i didn't think to much of it until later that evening when i found note in the sink. it was damp and the ink had run but i could read the writing,
'please can you help us. we are in trouble and need the help of a human. follow the messenger and he will tell you what is required.'
yes that's what it said. i re read it and wandered out onto the balcony, and there in the moonlight was the mysterious bird, perched upon a railing.
'fucking hell man, are you retarded or something?' yeah right a talking bird, i thought. 'okay we don't have much time, so if you don't mind can we get moving.i'll fill you in on the way.'
sure enough the bird hopped along by my side as i walked with him. incredible, a talking crow, who had a lot to say, 'hey mission, roll me a spliff, how do you humans walk around like this, it's so boring and tedious, i knew a bird once that had a wing injury, she had to walk for a while, walking around is crazy, fish don't do it, its undignified, i'm a royal guard did you know that, that's like very cool in my kingdom, i serve the queen, she's a beautiful queen, nice wings and smart to, of course you have to be smart to be queen, hey are we going anywhere near kfc? i heard about that food, i never had it, i don't really like eating other birds but my friends say kfc is fucking the bees knees, i'm good friends with the queen she's sent me to get you personally, she wrote that note, pretty good hand writing huh? we have err what you would call a situation, a problem, actually it's really quite a difficult situation, yeah man it would be good to score some of that kfc, so the queen calls me over one night, she's in her tree, high up, i go immediately. i'm loyal. she's a bit embarrassed i can tell. but i'm very reassuring, i have a way, a good way with queens, they confide in me, it's my eyes and soft voice, should be a dj except i don't like music much, i like some but you know the classics, american easy listening and soft rock, cheesy songs especially if they are from the eighties.
so the queens wipes her tears, she says alberto, that's me. i'm alberto, she says, i have a terrible decision to make and it's tearing me apart. now i move a little closer, not to close cos i am respectful but a little closer than is necessary, i whisper in my reassuring voice, what ever it is we will solve it, i give you my word queen, as alberto a royal sentry and as a friend to your majesty, you see how i am, reassuring in a soft gentle non manipulative way. so she starts to tell me the terrible circumstance.'
on and on the raven crow went, endless tangents as his conversation wound around in knots and circles, spirals and loops, without actually telling me what the main issue was.
'zip it bird, if you are not going to get to the point then i will just go home.'
'tetchy human, if you had wings you'd be a lot more relaxed. anyway we are here now, the queen will tell you herself, i'm going for a shower, its a shame we never passed a kfc, next time maybe, maybe if you're not busy next week, perhaps we can go together, i've enjoyed talking to you, it would be pleasant to catch up again, don't you think, it's not something we do usually but the queen reckons you're cool, maybe i'll call over, say around, 9ish....we are here.'
i found myself standing at the base of a large tree in the park, it was two huge for me to climb, the branches started to high and the base, the circumference was just massive. i looked up at the trees silhouetted against the night. then the fluttering of wings and another raven crow sat upon my shoulder.
'oh captain mission, thank you for coming with alberto, and alberto, thank you for bringing the captain here, i am so grateful, you have been such a wonderful friend.
have you explained the situation?'
'err no your majesty, he was talking all the way here, i could get a word in.'
the queen spoke again, 'captain mission, our community has a noble task, i am not certain if you are aware that raven crows have a duty to both the living and death.'
'the dead, living and the dead you mean. death wouldn't be correct grammar.'
no captain, i'm sorry, i do mean the living and death. and right now death is not happy.
alberto muttered, 'no he never is, always wants more, greedy bastard. shame about that kfc, looking forwards to next week, maybe i can bring the queen, ooh that would be great.' he continued but i stopped listening to him and focused on the queen, i was getting restless.
'we are here on a mission, we assist the transmutation of energy as it leaves the body we assist it to move, it's an agreement we made with death, and the creator. the pact was made a long time ago by my ancestors but it has been honoured without fail. energy that has not been guided will get lost in transit and form disembodied spirits, who are wandering around lost and confused. you call them ghosts but they are really just essences, fields of energy that don't have anyway to get to where they need to go, like an echo. we have been guardians of this task for hundreds and thousands of years. very occasionally we will make allies with certain members of your species. it's very rare but it does happen.'
she flew from my left shoulder and disappeared behind the tree, reappearing only to sit upon my right shoulder.
'the issue we have is there are far to many of you. your population is out of control especially as it destroys our homelands and thus reduced our population. simply put your over crowded physical world will be over crowded with the echos, the ghosts of the people we cannot assist transit. ghosts captain mission, there will be a ghost explosion. already we are overwhelmed with the responsibility. i don't know how long we can sustain it.'
'so you want me to... er do what, stop the breeders, save the forest?
'well death will be here soon, wanting souls and we have not got enough, for death requires souls that have made good passage and as i said are overwhelmed, you will need to persuade death not to react badly, i fear death will be very angry.'
i sat down and wracked my mind for ideas, mmmm, i could play chess with death, after all ingmar burgman and woody allen did it however i was not a good chess player. games were out of the question, besides i couldn't see death being interested in games. he just needed his souls. suddenly a breeze hit my face, the queen made a cawing sound, and i could hear the chorus of other birds follow suit, she looked worried, 'death is coming.'
a figure, the classic cowl and clock, the hooded grim reaper standing tall, face in darkness we waited as the figure came closer. the hood fell away and surprise suprise, death was actually a woman, a georgous one at that, wow, actually she was stunning. we shared a moment and then i knew my stratagy. i would seduce death.
i stepped forwards, 'madame death, welcome to the kingdom of raven crows, it is indeed an honour. i am captain mission, friend of raven crows here to welcome you, and may i say i like what you have done to your hair...'
a blush, a flutter of eye lids, i was in....