SEP 18, 11 .. THE DINKEY BIRD ..
THE DINKEY BIRD.. by Eugene Field.. 1850 to 1895..
In an ocean, ‘way out younder, (As all sapient people know)
Is the Land of Wonder Wander, Whither Children love to go:
It’s their playing, romping, swinging, That give great joy to me
While the Dinkey-Bird goes singing In the amfalula Tree
There the gum drops grow like cherries, And taffy’s thick as peas..
Carmels you pick like berries, When and Where and how you please:
Big red sugar plums are clinging To the cliffs beside that sea
Where the Dinkey-Bird is singing In the amfalula tree!
So when children shout and scamper And make merry all the day,
When there’s naught to put a damper To the ardor of their play:
When I hear their laughter ringing, Then I’m sure as sure can be
That the Dinkey-Bird is singing In the amfalula tree!
For the Dinkey-Bird’s bravuras And staccatos are so sweet..
His roulades, appoggiaturas, And robustos so complete
That the youth of every nation.. Be they near or far away..
Have especial delectation In that gladsome roundelay..
Their eyes grow bright and brighter, Their lungs begin to crow,
Their hearts get light and lighter, And their cheeks are all aglow,
For an echo cometh bringing The news to all and me,
That the Dinkey-Bird is singing In the amfalula tree
I’m sure you’d like to go there To see your feathered friend..
And so many goodies grow there You would like to comprehend!
Speed little dreams, you winging To that land across the sea
Where the Dinkey-Bird is singing In the amfalula tree!
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As a child.. growing up.. my mother used to read THE DINKEY-BIRD to me.. over and over and over.. then I would passionately PLEAD.. “Read it again to me mommy!” and she would do so..
So that one’s for you Mom.. Muireall Irene Casey Chastain.. May 6, 1906 to May 21, 1984.. thanks for the Irish in my geneology.. it seems that MOST.. if not quite ALL.. of the mental illness in my own genes has come from your Irish and from your Scotch ‘sides’.. your twin sister.. my beloved Auntie Bea.. hospitalized.. institutionalized.. locked up.. in the 1930’s and 1940’s in London, Ontario.. brain lobotomy.. shock treatments.. the best and the WORSE of mental illness in the 1930’s and 1940’s.. Auntie Bea’s children.. Clive (a gun to his head at age 40).. Joannie (over dose at age 54).. Doug (acute alcoholism age 66).. successful suicides..
OH YES.. my genius I.Q. came down from you also.. YOU.. Muireall Irene Casey.. THE University of Michigan.. graduated therefrom in 1927.. degree in Mathematics and Physics.. IN 1927 WOMEN did NOT major in math and in physics at Ann Arbor mom.. didn’t you get the word.. then on for three years at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit to get your R.N. (Registered Nurse).. you were a piece of work mom.. I can NOW look backward and see how your tortured and how your driven life .. like Auntie Bea’s .. was not necessarily of your.. shall we say.. choosing.. your family dark and your family SINISTER SIDES.. experienced by you and then given down to me..
AH YES OH GOD OF ABRAHAM.. and where did that all come from.. I know from whence.. no question here God..
Make no mistake here.. those choosing to read along with me.. I am sitting at the bedside.. daily.. of a dear and of a most tender lady who is in her ‘checking-out-of-life’ process.. Mrs Kitty Brinnand.. and I am in almost daily contact with one or with two or even with all three of her children.. I have become her Priestly Ear to whom she is confessing her (seeming) all..
Her own abuse-as-a-child issues.. how ODD it is GOD brings the right people together.. the ones who UNDERSTAND.. who REALLY UNDERSTAND.. their mutual interests and mutual pain..
OH KITTY you have NO IDEA of how I understand YOU.. I LIVED IT TOO..
BUT OH KITTY.. OH DEAR KITTY.. ATTITUDE.. how you have been given .. By GOD.. the wonderful gift of being where you are Kitty.. you are in an institution for mentally ill children Kitty..I wish I could spiritually motivate you to take advantage of the situation Kitty and assist these children.. it would do you BOTH A WORLD OF GOOD..
SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT ENTERED INTO MY DAY AFTER I WROTE THIS..
(THAT SOUNDS MUCH BETTER CAPTAIN.. I had originally written: Kitty I would like to get up on your bed.. to roll you over Kitty and to kick you smack dab square in your ass to get your attention and tell you..)
KITTY REACH OUT TO THESE WOUNDED CHILDREN WHO ARE COMING INTO YOUR ROOM.. TOUCH THEM KITTY.. SMILE AT THEM KITTY.. SET ASIDE YOUR WOUNDEDNESS KITTY.. SET ASIDE YOUR ANGER KITTY.. SET ASIDE YOUR RANCOR KITTY.. GET OUT OF YOUR OWN PAIN KITTY..
As the book of John says Kitty.. die for them.. as Father Lawrence Abello, S.J. says.. it is a DEATH OF SELF .. it is a DEATH OF EGO.. where it says in the Bible that nothing could be greater than to die for another..
WATCH ME KITTY.. don’t you see how I slap their hands with HIGH FIVES.. can’t you see these wounded children lining up to get a ROUSING HIGH FIVE FROM BABA .. didn’t you see the gaggle of them.. up on the balcony of the third floor across from you..LOCKED UP KITTY..CAGED IN.. through the bars they all reached out their hands to me and we ALL DID .. IN THE AIR.. THROUGH THE AIR.. OUR HIGH FIVES..
OH KITTY.. GOD HAS GIVEN YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT A WINNER..
You will NOT drink fluids.. you will NOT accept NOR participate in physical therapy Kitty.. you have CHOSEN TO CHECK YOURSELF OUT.. you can no longer even turn yourself over in your bed.. YOU HAVE QUIT ON ME AND YOU HAVE QUIT ON LIFE..
AND I AM SAD.. AND I AM PISSED OFF ALSO..
You said yesteday.. “Cap.. I am going to die in your home Cap”..
I then said “Let me wrestle you into a wheel chair Kitty.. and get you out of this room for a break and out into the air and out into the sunshine outside” and you said “NO Cap.. “..
I am now off to Mother Teresa’s Mission Shantdan.. in the Tangra District.. of South Calcutta.. WHERE THE PIGS AND WHERE THE DUCKS that I photographed live..
I haven’t had the guts yet to photograph slums NOT ONE OF YOU who have NOT BEEN here can imagine.. LORD GOD the guy with the cardboard box has it made.. he is almost Royalty..
I gotta stop here.. I could go on.. and I could go on.. and I could go on.. and I will stop here..
When my own mental wheels are comng off.. to those most trusted of friends I whisper.. quietly..
“and MY Dinkey-Bird is singing in his amfalula tree”
WHEN IT IS REALLY BAD I add..
“and my (plural) Dinkey-BirdS are singing in their amfalula treeS” ..
This instant I am eating of the candy in the land of Wonder Wander..
Much Love.. Cap..