A Bird’s Nest of Prayer Flags

6th November 2023

A bird's nest woven from grasses and Buddhist prayer flags.

This nest was waiting for me on my verandah this morning. After storms and winds for a few days, it’d lost its foothold in the giant bay tree by the verandah.

Fortunately, the babies are long gone.

What I love is how the nest is partly made from some Buddhist prayer flags I bought some years ago while in Ladakh, in the foothills of the Himalayas. The flags are designed to disintegrate with the passage of the seasons, giving a daily reflection on the impermanence of our life. Remember man that you are dust…

Now it sits proudly on my desk, a philosophical statement more poignant than any skull held by Hamlet. A work of art woven by a bird to protect and shelter her young.

Enjoy my writing? Please subscribe here to follow my blog. Or perhaps you’d like to buy me a coffee? (Or a pony?)

If you like my photos please click either here or on the link in my header to buy (or simply browse) my photos. Or else, please click here to buy either my poetry or novel ebooks. I even have a YouTube channel. Thank you!

Previous
Previous

Desperately Seeking Dumplings

Next
Next

The Dragon of Halong