“Avian Escapees and Budgie Snugglers”

Matteson, Kieko | from Multimedia Library Collection:
Periodicals

© Franklin nevis on Shutterstock. All rights reserved.

Matteson, Kieko. “Avian Escapees and Budgie Snugglers.” Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review, no. 6 (October 2024).

Late one evening soon after I had arrived in Australia for a sabbatical, I was out strolling with my daughter through a Sydney park, seeking relief from the summer humidity, when something yellow on the ground caught my eye. We stopped to take a look. It was a bird. Small, disheveled, its feathers neon bright in the glare of a nearby lamppost, the creature appeared out of place. It was vaguely pecking at the grass, but when it pitched forward clumsily, it was clear it needed help. My daughter and I debated what to do. Should we capture it? How? Even if we could, what would we do with it? Other people walked past, deep in conversation, unaware of the drama unfolding inches from their feet. Lacking my glasses, I tapped “lostt brid rexsue?” into my phone’s search app and snapped a location photo just as the bird abruptly rose and flapped unsteadily into a tree, high out of reach. (From the article)

This article was originally published in Springs: The Rachel Carson Center Review. Springs is an online publication featuring peer-reviewed articles, creative nonfiction, and artistic contributions that showcase the work of the Rachel Carson Center and its community across the world.

2024 Kieko Matteson

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This license refers only to the text and does not include any image rights.
Please see captions in the PDF for individual licenses.