.

perfunctory

the word and its place in my life

... in his lectures, he revealed himself
to be a perfunctory speaker, his job
a mere formality

I'd rather be by the water right
now, searching for injured birds and
sharing an evening light in the clouds

... for her, the phone was a perfuctory
tool, for making apppointments, obtaining
quick information. her key word was
facetoface

I met an old friend by the docks.
graphic-artist-slash-photographer
with so many years between us and
still so much in common (not to
mention an ideosyncratic fascination
with the behaviour of birds). she
coaches two Dragon Boat teams and
since I've always wanted to race,
this year is the year

... he wove through a clinking-glass
crowd by placing his hand on the back
of each guest like someone who just
wanted to get through a thing. at his
best, a perfunctory courtesy.

two days ago, I went driving with
a biologist. we were hunting for hidden
marshes and I told him about my latent
desire to create trans-species signage,
markers that map migratory pathways
for particular birds (some endangered),
as if to say "respect these resting
places"

... and it is entirely possible to
build friendships with wild birds
although I don't know anyone else
who also believes in their gentle
intelligence. say the word
perfunctoriness rapidly with
particular inflection and it
sounds like a bird call.

there is a cardinal outside my studio
window whom I fear might be trapped
by the frame of these words like
the sign of any idea feathered
with meaning; see how it bleeds
the page of its moment. 'the wild
bird represents red in the trees'
is a sentence I don't wish to tame.
instead, I'll take pleasure in
knowing its blazing colour is
free. angel-free, like someone
I knew

... she set the table perfunctorily
the way a bank teller stamps cheques
in quick succession

"Your image, tormenting and elusive,
I could not touch in the mist,
"God!" I said by mistake,
never thinking to say that myself,

God's name like a gigantic bird,
flew out from my breast.
Before me thick mist swarms,
behind me stands an empty cage."

(Osip Mandelstam)