Islands of Isolation

I watch a wood-hen cross a dirt road

And I marvel at the mirage

Of Evolution.

That, nowhere else on earth

Can you spot this miracle.

 

The woodhen is not alone,

Every island kingdom

Carries its own banner of rarity

Special - but only

To the oculus that knows it all

 

Not far away, I imagine

The Kagu, the Kiwi

The Kea, the Kakapo

They have all grown

In similar wonders of isolation

 

The price of aloneness, though

Not that you turn different

But you are recognised no more

For your feathers are daubed

In the dust of distant lands

 

Your kindred souls

Turn farther away, until

All songs of sameness dissolve

And you are left on your own

A tiny ark, all alone

 

As if to imprint the stigma

The wings are taken away

Thou shalt fly no more

Every adventure comes at a price

Even the spirit of distant lands

 

The option that remains

Is to forget who you were

To stay imprisoned

In these isles of paradise -

The beautiful, solitary exiles in the sea…

 

22^nd August, 2025

 

The above lines were inspired by the denizens of unique birds I have seen, and read about, in the isles of the Pacific. The Lord Howe Island Woodhen, the Norfolk Island Green Parrot, the Kagu of New Caledonia, and many more amazing avian wonders of Zealandia – are all such amazing examples of island evolution, found nowhere else on earth. And yet in the safety of paradise, with no feral beasts, many of these birds evolve to lose the power of flight. Evolution, though wonderful, seems to come at a price as well.

 The tinge of melancholy comes when I compare these avian wonders with migrant souls, who lose a lot of themselves, just as they find a lot as well, to change for good, from the paths of wonder, woes and wariness that they decide to tread on their own.

 cover image: the Kagu bird, only found on the island of New Caledonia