Was it the sunlight gleaming in the steaming emerald canopy that whet your curiosity 
before the steady downpour that urged you to soar
high
above the fragrant jungle floor? Or

Was it afterwards,
when you took flight and rose
above
the maze
of shallow puddles and swirling mud hollows spawned by
the deluge pouring down the well-trodden path?

Did your feathers fall freely from your wing
slip from your tail as you soared and sailed 
’round towering millennia-aged boughs?

Did they float to the ground unprovoked
and rock in the west wind’s cradle
to the melody of Mother Nature’s day-time song—

thrumming, humming, burbling, buzzing,
chirping, cheeping, twittering, peeping,
trilling, chattering, whistling, shrieking,
pitter-pattering raindrops scattering,
splishing, splashing, leaping

Or

did they dislodge in a colorful cloud of fury,
screeching your dismay
while you witnessed
your hatchlings trapped
and transported
to lands
faraway.

I’m happy to say it was the weather that placed
your feathers in my hands.

~~~~

In 2009 I met shaman Univu Kuntanawa and his son Haru in Greenland (that’s a whole other story).

A few years later, a friend, after having lived in the Amazon jungle with them for a time, sold handicrafts from their village to support the Kuntanawa Nation’s call to action. My parrot feathers, collected from the forest floor, were a gift for supporting their projects, all of which center around sustainability, rainforest preservation, and the cultural reconstruction of the Kuntanawa tribe, as well as that of other indigenous communities in the Amazon.

Hardly a day goes by that I’m not reminded by those feathers, now hanging in my studio space, of the impact my every-day choices have on our world…our earth…our awesome, majestic, yet fragile, planet.

In addition to this stunning example of the rainforest’s song

I learned two things while researching jungle sounds.
You might find them interesting, too.
Maybe even inspiring, as another call to action?

“Every year between August and September, poachers in the Brazilian Cerrado steal turquoise-fronted parrot hatchlings from their nests to supply the exotic pet market…read more”     and      A Day in the Life of a Poached Parrot

Thank you, dear Reader, for taking the time to stop by today.

❤️ Be well ❤️
+
❤️ HAPPY EARTH DAY ❤️