speak well of death

I woke up on Sunday very early, as I do nowadays. I'm probably old by now, I just haven't realized it. Old people do this sort of thing. I went into the kitchen for my coffee, but when I got there, I froze. Baby was obviously ill, barely standing on his tiny feet.

I never cried so hard in my life, not even when my dad died.


Baby is a blue parrot. And I usually don't pay that much thought to him. In the mornings, we talk a bit while I wait for my coffee to boil, and over the years, I often suspected him of forgetting who I was from one day to the next. At some point, I was angry with him for beating up the smaller birds. I pointed my finger at him in warning. He stopped hurting the others, but he was upset with me for weeks and he pretended not to see me when I greeted him in the morning. He doesn't know my name, but he knows what "don't!" means.

He's smaller than my fist, and I have really small hands. And I don't really care for him, he's my mom's bird. He's just... there.

About a month ago, his girlfriend died. Suddenly. I was shocked. I didn't see it coming, and I see everything. I blamed my mom for being selfish and careless. I cried, then I cried some more, reminded of my own possible death. Then I moved on. Just like everyone. She was green.


Then my mom wanted to buy a new one, because Baby was lonely and depressed. I became involved again, urging her not to buy an identical one to the one that died. It seemed ungracious and plain sick to replace her like that. And then she bought two, very young ones, and I spent a week angry at her for being cheap, and selfish.

and then the new girl died about a week ago, despite my taking her to the doctor and putting my faith in him; the treatment didn't work. and I started having nightmares about being dead too, with tiny, skinny, birds legs. and my mom wouldn't really care about my wishes, just like she does in real life, I thought.


But now Baby is dying and I can't stand it. When the hell did I start caring for this little guy? 3 years is a long time, but he's just there. what do I care?


I spent this whole Sunday away from home, terrified of coming back and finding him dead, like I found the other ones. Maybe 3 in a row is too much. Maybe his being a rebel touched a cord inside of me and we became alike. Maybe it's because he's blue, or maybe because I'm afraid of dying myself. Or maybe it's because I was too young to mourn my father, and I was never aloud to cry over him - cos I'm expected to be perfect and strong. and now I cry for all of them, me included.


and I wish I was angry at the two doctors that don't seem to know what they're doing. Or angry at my mom, for whatever. Anger makes you feel strong, and mighty. But all I feel is dread.
Maybe I am identified with the poor bird. We're both blue, we're both helpless, we both don't understand what the heck is going on.


and there are moments when I can't stand the tension anymore. I want him to die already! He's gonna die anyway, right? why wait. he's having a miserable life. he can't eat the stuff he likes; I terrify him to death 3 times a day when I have to catch him and shove disgusting medicine down his throat. and the damned thing's not working. and he's getting worse. and I'm a horrible person for wanting him to die faster, die on my own terms, so I could only cry once. not 3 times a day, for a week.



and maybe I brought this on. I've been reading this book - about death, and dying, and the primal anxiety that we all feel about it. as I read through, I felt superior in my understanding. such arrogance! yeah, so what if all problems start here? the man who can't chose one woman, the friend who can't be alone, the other who throws himself in pointless, numerous affairs, even my mom who won't let me grow up, and my refusing any sort of responsibility or commitment - we're all terrified of running out of endless possibilities, afraid that the voice inside is just waiting for a chance to whisper: you're going to die too!

but who cares?


and we don't speak of death. we never speak of it.
we speak of sex, and politics, and football. about our hopes and dreams, and our stupid, shallow ambitions. but we never speak of Death.
nobody wanted to talk about what I feel these days. I tell them my parrot died today. And they're pretending not to hear. I'm heartbroken. My whole world collapsed in a second bc some stupid bird that doesn't even know who I am is dying. you hear? I'm dying inside.


and I'm terrified.


and I went straight to bargaining on Sunday morning. as if my worthless life could actually be a bargaining chip. as if god would actually manifest itself at my will. as if he/she couldn't see right through my selfish offer.
I wasn't really trying to save him. I was only trying to save my sorry ass from living through losing him. and god knows this, as he saw the same stupid movies as I did. sacrifice must be honest to work my ass. that's a fairytale. you can't negotiate your way around death. it knows every trick in the book.

and I know all about death. I know about grief. and anger. I watched my 80 years old grandmother die in my arms, and I didn't even blink. I know that all things come to an end at some point, and I get it why it must be so. but this is personal. this is my death somehow - it belongs to me. and all the knowledge in the world won't help me - I need to control this.
not him. I won't have it. I won't let him go. I'll shove all that yellow stuff down his throat, I'll go to every damned doctor in this country, someone's got to know how to fight this, how to stop this. this must stop. now.I couldn't save the other two, but I will save him. this time, I won't lose. I can't! I can't...


but the crazy part?
it's that all this is about me.
Not even his death belongs to him. I stepped in and I made it personal. It belongs to me now, it's between me and my god. and god doesn't seem to care about what I want. god minds his own business.

and Baby will die, regardless