Mocking bird prophecies

Mocking bird prophecies

In the summer
Of 1980
I found myself in Gapyeong.

Living and working
In a Korean mountain town
The only non-Korean
For miles around

I had to learn Korean
To survive
Even to eat


And to do my job
In the Peace Corps.

There were a few English speakers
In town, who helped me out
But I was on my own, otherwise.

One day I was out walking
Deep in the mountains
With my nurse co-worker
Going to a remote village.

Suddenly I heard someone laughing
And saw a black bird staring at me
Laughing its head off.

That was a mockingbird
She explained
Laughing at me
Saying it was good luck.

It took two more years
And several more encounters
With mocking birds

Before the mockingbird prophecy
Came true
When I met my wife.

For tomorrow, write a story or poem titled Death of a Mockingbird, in which the main character or narrator suffers a loss of innocence, and use the image of a mockingbird to symbolize that loss.

Based on a true story
Mockingbirds are common deep in the Korean countryside, but not so common in the urban areas as they are a bit shy among humans – I must have encountered them about 25 times over the years.