Hmmm, can we find comfort in the mundane if we choose?
Every weekday morning on my drive to work I head south on Dixie Road past Steeles Avenue. It is one of the busiest intersections on my commute, but not just from the perspective of traffic.
As I wait at the intersection for the green light, I look up at the hydro wires which appear to be encrusted with barnacles. But a closer examination reveals a chorus line of blackbirds shoulder to shoulder numbering in the hundreds.
Blackbirds are creatures of habit in this respect. They select a roost and occupy it persistently. Flocking behaviour is particularly common in the winter months. Occasionally, perhaps to stretch their wings, they launch from the wires all at once, circle in tight formation for a minute or two and then return to roost again.
What is the point of this rather mundane observation? It is probably a quirk of my personality, of which there are many, that I find it comforting that blackbirds are so predictable in their behavior.
A chorus line of blackbirds on the wires – a random act of metaphor to assure me that there are some things I can count to remain consistent in a world where relentless change is the norm.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: blackbirds on wires · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments