Wholistic Fitness

COACH SAYS; Bye-Bye, Birdies!

Bird Haiku

chirping baby bird (5)
little wings lift all burdens (7)
feathered kingdom sings! (5)

– coach ilg, inspired by DL reader Karen

*
why imprison a bird into a cage?
this yogi invites them to visit me in mine!
over the years i have coached finches and sparrows to keep me company at my computer as i work. i love ‘my’ bird friends and feel my Work benefits from their presence.

*
as i prepare to leave my LA nest to finally return to my more wild, familiar, and lofty one,
i devote this DL entry as a Taking Leave gift to my little feathered friends that i leave behind.
for the past nine years, these birds have been my miniature wild kingdom outside, and often inside!,
my Tarzana home office.

without these euphoric sparks of life which hop about my window sill
and look at me with eyes like unstrung Mala Beads,
my Personal Fitness in this Big City
would surely have been less healthy.
it’s funny, sad really, how many people disassociate
the natural world from their boxed in and conditioned notions of Personal Fitness.
it is important, i TAF, to learn the names of birds, flowers, trees, and other wild things.
doing so increases two vital spiritual qualities;
Perspective and Awareness.

thus feeble ilg bows to the sparrows,
to the finches and the hummingbirds,
to the mourning doves, crows, ravens, mockingbirds, warblers, and starlings…
to my nifty, flitty Ladder-backed Woodpecker,
to thee i bow, yet not as fast and as hard as you constantly do!
to the Common Grackles who to me, are anything but common,
as you shower and dance in a polluted gutter of car wash water.

… and to the other eight species of my aviary beings that i have
identified outside my office window,
i bow thank you…
for your company over these years.
your feathered flightdancing among the palms has nourished my animal medicine starved soul
and the misty mornings of LA are much more beautiful with your sunrise sonata’s gracing
the noisy freeway air. May your swerving swords of wings continue to clap upon Father Sky
for long years to come.

and so, to whomever humans
move into this cage next at 5720 Yolanda Ave,
Apartment Number 2,
may they also, honor you
feed you
love you
and see you for what you truly are,
a far more Gifted and Graceful Teacher than i!

namaste,
the mountain yogi