We project ourselves onto animal lives –
anthropomorphize, says the big fancy word.
Do we ever wonder whether they do the same,
and avia- or canino-morphize with us?
Inhabiting one would be such an adventure,
to be more, for a while, than a guessing observer;
to escape human judgment and arrogant bias
and live within an elusive winged being:
Are my feathers well-tended?
Are my songs being heard?
Are there rivals to chase off?
On alert for all dangers, am I ready to flee?
Is my flight as natural as walking for some?
What’s instinct, what’s conscious?
Can my senses and actions be truly transcribed
to the foreign language that those humans think in?
And if I return, will I even remember
The winged other life that I lived for a time?
– Peter Schmidt (May 2021)
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