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A Library in a Mansion

from Feathers They Fall by Tyler Shipley

/

lyrics

I just heard about a great horned owl
who passed away after eight years in the wild
around a conservation site called thicksons wood
where he was given acute care but succumbed to his wounds

it wasn't clear from the report what exactly happened
but it didn't sound like the owl's death was natural
but more likely a collision with a motorized vehcile
and I'd like to get my hands on the person behind the wheel

my friend saw this owl just a few months prior
he was nesting in a white pine with his mate and she took a picture
and then he gave a great hoot and the two of them flew away
swooping right above her by the last light of the day

and when she told me just now that the owl had died
even though I never met him, I felt so heavy inside
we live in the interregnum and there is death and loss all around
and now add it to the list - there is one less beautiful owl

birds mourn the loss of their mate
and we thought about her sitting up in the pines waiting
for him to come home with fresh mice and voles
and when he never returned in her heart it would leave such a hole

and she was crying and I understood and we tried to imagine
that he was waiting somewhere nice, an old library in a mansion
where she would join him later, when the time was right
and they could read old books and hoot together into the night

the lives of so many creatures and dependent on the land
that we carved into private property to exploit and command

and for every plant and animal that met an untimely death
add it to the list of crimes upon our collective head

credits

from Feathers They Fall, released November 29, 2023
Song by Tyler Shipley and Robin Linton
Music by Tyler Shipley, Robin Linton and Graham McLaughlin
Mastered by Jamie Sitar

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Tyler Shipley Toronto, Ontario

Tyler Shipley was the founding member of the Consumer Goods (theconsumergoods.bandcamp.com) and now performs as a solo artist.

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