 It’s not easy being a bird in this world. We are loved by bird watchers but hated by the fruit hoarders who feel that birds should not partake in the fruits and other delicacies that they love. What’s wrong if a thrasher tastes a mango, a banana, or a tomato… in the same day? Birds have to eat too! Humans have caused so many problems on this planet. They cut down our trees to make their homes forgetting that the trees are our home. They pick all the fruits without consideration for our need to eat. They mow the lawn and scrape away the cuttings so that we can get our seeds. They even set traps and stone us. I am not too much of a fan of people – even though we’re all on two legs. You would not believe that I am the territorial bird when I say these things. But I am. I am the Turtle Dove. The people named the largest island in the Virgin Islands after me – Tortola. Imagine, humans met my ancestors here. I can’t say what would have been different back then before the people came and multiplied. My mother would tell tales she heard of how clean and quiet the place was. She told me that the prominent colors were green and blue for the plants and the sea. The unique colors would have been fruits and wildflowers with a little red and orange for the mangoes, deep purple or orange for the guavaberries, pink for the white cedar flower, and so forth. She said there was tranquility and abundance before the people came. I know that today, people move around on foot, by vehicle, boat, or in the air. They move fast. They are noisy with all their transportation, entertainment, arguing, and disruptions. I doubt many notice me, and I prefer to be as far away from them. Seasons change, and things around us change. Sometime before mangoes started to come in March, just around spring, I noticed the humans stop moving around as much as they used to. They stayed in their nests and murmured about the happenings. When a few of them came outside, they seemed unsettled and unhappy. I heard murmurings of a COVID-19, but I did not understand. It was not the first time that the humans stayed home; the change was they stayed home longer this time. Just a few were moving around. So the roads were quiet, but the nests were busy like beehives. I listened to children interacting with their teachers, and adults on the phone and computer talking to others. What made me smile as I flew by was the cooking tutorials. I felt the humans would be happy with that and leave the upcoming mangoes for my feathered cousins who love to peck one at a time. I also noticed that more people were setting seeds and creating gardens. My cousins would love this because their bellies love variety. I, on the other hand, pick my seeds off the ground. The people tilled the soil, created irrigation systems from water bottles, and put their food waste in the soil. I was amazed by their innovation! My cousins, the Thrashers, were all excited about the gardens. They are so greedy! My other cousins, the chickens, were also happy to be clucking around and pecking through the soil, and freshly planted seeds. I felt this would cause me to get stoned just for having feathers and being in the area where a mango or tomato got pecked. And guess what? I got stoned by a little boy who was excited when the tomatoes on his trees started to turn red. I then decided that although I was at a lower risk of catching their COVID-19, I would retreat to another area where there were fewer people. While it was intriguing listening to them learn, cook, and talk, I think I would be better off building my nest in another area. So, I took my mate, and we flew to another side of the mountain. Thankfully, people were far away, and we had access to a plethora of the seeds that we love. Let the people keep their transportation, entertainment, technology, and COVID-19! My family and I are staying out of their way in our little hillside haven on Tortola. I am going in ghost-mode for Peckchat and Beakbook until 2021! Linette Rabsatt is a Virgin Islands poet with roots in the BVI and USVI who began writing in 1996. You can find her work in her 2023 Kindle book, "Be Inspired: Poems by Linette Rabsatt," on her blog, "Words of Ribbon," in "Virgin Islands Callaloo: Poems from the Caribbean," and on the Visual Verse website. She performs at local events, and online poetry readings and was recently nominated for a 2024 National Spoken Words Award for Best International Artist.
Links: Blogger: https://wordsofribbon.blogspot.com/ Kindle Book: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Inspired-Poems-Linette-Rabsatt-ebook/dp/B0BXBNFZ9H Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LinetteInspireVI Twitter: https://twitter.com/LRabsatt YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LARabsatt Image by Noah Silliman
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