Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding

Drawing by Melissa Peterson 

As I'm not the greatest fan of indie folk, or the Twilight series for that matter, it took me some time to come across Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine – this is the stage name of the singer/songwriter Samuel Beam. Apparently the song was selected by Kristen Stewart for the prom scene at the end of the first Twilight film, which I watched with considerable delay.

And so the song stayed with me; every time I come across a flightless bird, or when I become one myself, I find it soothing. Maybe it is because of its irresistible melody, or maybe it's just me reading too much into it; like being grounded and bleeding, and yet still hoping and struggling to fly away.

Any day now.

I was a quick-wit boy

Diving too deep for coins
All of your street light eyes 

Wide on my plastic toys
Then when the cops closed the fair

I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map

And called for you everywhere

Have I found you
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping
Or lost you
American mouth, big pill looming 

Now I'm a fat house cat 

Nursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats 

Curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos

Those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean

Blood of Christ mountain stream 

Have I found you
Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding
Or lost you
American mouth, big pill, stuck going down