The Easter Bunny Was the Ghost of a Bird

 

 

The sun was almost disappearing behind the mountain range after a glorious day in the high desert of Arizona.

I heard a loud thump in the kitchen. As I looked around, the last rays of sunshine fell on the window above the sink and there was an amazing imprint of a bird that had just hit the glass.

We do get a few such events, but this one was breathtakingly detailed, complete and a work of art. Every feather, given the desert dust it carried, had left a print on the window glass.

I had a few seconds to take a picture before the blue sunset turned red, yellow and dark blue.

The one atop this entry is a rendition in B&W that I like. Here is the original view:

 

 

… And all disappeared within the blink of the eye. And I recalled a 2016 book by Eliot Weinberger titled “The Ghost of Birds”.

 

It is an eclectic book touching upon Chinese poetry, Aztec rituals and Buddhism among other things. I recalled a 10-page poem about birds and searched for it. Here are a few lines that seem to fit with the “visit” of that bird to my kitchen window:

 

Red: the color of bravery.  Red: the sacred color of the gods.  Red feathers on the cloaks, mats, axes, kites, headdresses,
                  digging sticks, the gables of houses, the ceremonial aprons.  Red feather tied to the middle finger of the corpse of a chief. 
 
                   There were ninety shades of red.  Red feathers were said to shine   
                   in darkness. 
                   Red shift: it shifts to red as it retreats in distance and time… 

 

It was a Good Friday to remember.

 

April 4, 2026

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2026