The Ornithophile

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, 'It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!'

—Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense (1846)

~~~

Not a people pleaser by nature, the ornithophile is a curious creature.

Surrounded by a flight of flighty friends, there are many who know of him, yet few who know him.

Over the brood he presides, an oft unseen observer; he confounds himself with his love of their fervor.

To be heard amongst birds, he speaks boldly and loud, but left to himself, he makes hardly a sound.

When his flock flaunts their feathers, he refuses to preen; He arises from the shadows, heats water into steam!

How different he is when not part of the group, when taken aside, and away from the coop.

A born collector of the broken, he listens tirelessly to heal, but though he offers his advice, he hides how he feels.

From her perch on his window, the swallow sees but a peek, of the gentle writer who writes volumes, but knows not how to gently speak.

~~~

“Farewell, farewell," said the swallow, with a heavy heart, as she left the warm countries, to fly back into Denmark. There she had a nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy tales. The swallow sang "Tweet, tweet," and from her song came the whole story.”

― Hans Christian Andersen, Thumbelina