... and you are standing in the London town square.
Auliya, Jopsy, Modesty, and Mouse are all arguing about birds.
Mouse wonders if birds fly.
Modesty says, "Of course birds fly.
"I do too: every day my breath washes over the hot world.
I whisper dreams to all of you, dear ones." (she kisses you)
Jopsy says, "I once ate a bird in the kitchens of a far away king.
The bones of the bird then ate the king. The bird was a just,
if passive ruler."
Auliya purrs quietly, drawing a feather along your eyelids, teasing the round skin.
She says, "Days bloom and fade. The plumage of our sighs go silent
with mud. There may be no birds; even if not, I hear a brief song
which descends -- I'm not sure where from.
Moral: When the stones of our cities fall and the birds encircle the red constellations, be in no measure frightened of bone beak or high pitched hymn or ember eyes that cannot blink. Sing your dreams. Then go where you must We cannot forestall the ineluctable but we might sing a little.