Thursday, June 24, 2010

Cardinal Sight


My power animal is a cardinal. I ask the universe a question and a cardinal serendipitously lands nearby to punctuate my thought. Ohio’s state bird. Officially one below the popes and patriarchs in the Catholic Church. Passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae. A shade of scarlet.

The color red attracts hummingbirds. It carries the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye. Sinful. Passionate. The fire this time.

My friends are giving birth to rainbow babies. Infinitesimal babies. Brand new human burritos. So delicious. So warming. These babies melt my heart then re-shape it, and take it waltzing in a sunlit, crystalline ballroom. I realize I have a deep and gracious penchant for newborn children, for those cardinal and fleeting moments when a baby becomes a unique being on this earth.

Recently, I have found peace in specializing in abortion care. I have all but forgotten opposition to our truth. I am here to know the private stories of pivotal moments in women’s lives.

I go to yoga, and when we chant our, Om, I see the air around me is waving. Glowing. Good and right.

Orange butterflies are dancing along summer’s path. Hummingbirds. Fireflies are lighting the night. A female cardinal just landed in my yard.

1 comment:

  1. As I wrap up my documentary, a case study about one abortion clinic in PA, I feel free, like the fireflies that surrounded me when I took my sweet puppy for a walk tonight, knowing that my story has the power to tell the truth. My story is emblematic of the current unresolved ethics of the tactics and strategies of advocacy for women--advocacy that pits woman against fetus.

    Color me red, cardinal red, blood red. My friends call me Fire because I'm not afraid to speak up, to speak out. My words burn but they are words rooted in truth. And I stand unafraid.

    ReplyDelete

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