The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Surgeons aid shotgunned peregrine
Shot 'bionic bird' to be released back into wild
Edinburgh Evening News, 3 May 2005
Edinburgh Evening News, 3 May 2005
A RARE peregrine falcon found badly wounded, suffering from gunshots, in a Fife field has made an amazing recovery and will soon be released back into the wild, welfare workers have revealed.
The falcon, found shot at Clunie Clays by Kirkcaldy in February, has been nicknamed "the bionic bird" by staff at the Scottish SPCA’s specialist wildlife centre at Middlebank, near Dunfermline.
The falcon was peppered with shotgun pellets - which broke its wing and leg and narrowly missed its head.
Specialists at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in Edinburgh operated to remove the pieces of lead from the peregrine’s body and inserted a special steel pin to help the bird to walk again.
It will be released back into the wild later this month.
The bird was found in a field by a man walking his dog.
Experts believe the bird was probably shot by a pigeon fancier who feared it could have disrupted a race.
