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. |