Predator.

I was hoping I wouldn’t see my favorite bird today, and I didn’t.

This time of year, male Scarlet Tanagers undergo a change that signifies the movement of time. I don’t like the movement of time.

Spots of green invade the red...

Spots of green invade the red...

I’ll admit that as a kid in school, I couldn’t wait for time to drag its sorry ass to the end of the day, the end of the semester.

Now, time is a pollutant that makes beards gray, computers outdated, parents senile and cars worthless.

If I could, I’d put a thumbtack into the clock to stop its hands. But there are no hands. Clocks got digital. Besides, we have I-phones.

As leaves turn from green to red, Scarlet Tanagers do the opposite, turning from red to green.

This means another year is over. More water under the bridge, more never being able to step into the same river twice.

As Omar Khayyam said, “The bird of time has but a little way to fly—and lo! the bird is on the wing.”

What’s a chunk of ancient verse doing on a two-fisted website? Look past the poetry and hear the meaning. It’s brutal.

I was in the hot, quiet August forest near my house.

Ruthless predator

Ruthless predator

All I saw was a Praying Mantis, hunting for grasshoppers. It’s an evil-eyed space alien with barbed claws and big jaws.

I used binoculars on it. It glowered back, its bug eyes saying: “Hate you, human!”

Meanwhile, the trees hid Scarlet Tanagers in late-summer molt.

I saw such a tanager once, and it was mottled. Hot red mixed with olive. Soon, the whole bird, except for its black wings and tail would be greenish.

This unstoppable change symbolizes another summer turning sour. A red bird losing redness. A conveyer belt riding us out of here.

But I didn’t see a molting tanager. Just a Praying Mantis. It didn’t symbolize time, but it symbolized a ruthless predator.

Same thing.

4 Responses to “Predator.”

  1. Two-Fisted Bird Watcher says:

    Hey Spector: another guy who appreciated strong poetry and strong drink was the educated wild-west gambler & gunfighter, Doc Holiday. If legends are correct, he too was often 87.5 percent loaded. The exact figure you mentioned. Holiday was a straight shooter in spite of that. Or maybe because of it.
    –TFBW

  2. Spector says:

    As Omar said, whom you quote in Predators: “Come fill the cup that clears today of past regrets and future fears. Tomorrow? Why tomorrow I myself may be among yesterday’s ten thousand years.” The remedy for angst and foreboding: reading and drinking. I’m 87.5 percent loaded now, a condition which should last until it fades…But here’s my method for handling time: There is no time but Now. Live in the endless, timeless moment. …

  3. Rob L says:

    the ST’s will be red next summer. and so will your words, bub.

  4. Bill says:

    I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t originally supposed to be “preying” mantis. Either way would work.