My parents loved animals
Of all kinds. This is the one thing I
Learned from them that’s shaped me most.
Our home, a menagerie
Equal to Dr. Dolittle’s zoo,
Stood sanctuary to all
Animal varieties,
Furry, feathery, finny, and more,
With the winged ones probably
Dominating overall
In the final count for this reason:
My mom’s superhuman knack,
Francis of Assisi-like,
For attracting birds to her in droves,
An avian-nurse magnet.
Perhaps it was in her genes.
Her mom and dad met one day when they
Found themselves seated at lunch
On the same park bench beside
Lake Michigan, feeding pigeons bread
Instead of feeding themselves.
This noon ritual became
Their regular routine, a courtship
Dance of kindred souls in tune,
Forever after bonding
Them and continuing until
My grandfather passed away.
After retirement, they
Moved from Chicago to O‘ahu,
Living with us while they kept
Feeding birds every day while
Sitting on their favorite park bench
At Queen’s Surf in Waikīkī.
All this time, before they’d moved,
While they lived with us, and long after
They’d both passed, my mom raised birds.
By raising them, I don’t mean
She bred them. I mean she saved flocks-worth,
From babies to mature birds
Downed or rejected from nests
Broken legged and winged, sick and diseased.
No hand feeding or vet cost
Was too much for her; our house
Overflowed with cages, eyedroppers,
Pablum, bottled baby foods,
Bags of seed, and anything
Else that could come in handy to treat
Every bird needing her help.
And it wasn’t just that she
Found all these birds on her own, although
She certainly found many.
As an English teacher for
More than 30 years, she became known
As the famous Bird Lady
Of Āliamanu School,
Through those years lugging cages daily
From home to classroom to home.
And not just one cage a day.
She’d wrangle half a dozen or more
At a time, devotedly.
Sometimes I think it might’ve
Been a tossup as to whether those
Students learned more from her
About English or bird care.
Until the day she retired, former
Students would bring birds in need,
And then they and their children
Would bring birds, and so it continued
Even after she’d retired.
How they managed to locate
Our house remains a mystery, but
Once a few did, the word spread.
Maybe it is in the genes.
I still have and use those eyedroppers.
In a way, they keep her near.
Lanning Lee 