Red-winged Blackbird

Grosbeak Gallery presents; The Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus.) We used this iconic bird as a representation of connection to land. Here in rural Illinois, this bird can be commonly seen. Its unique call is one many of us associate with summer. I’ve decided to include a section from Clare’s Brilliant Imperfection by Eli Clare. He is a writer, educator and activist specifically for queer, transgender and disability issues. I really couldn’t say it better than him.

CW: This piece does contain language that may be considered derogatory. If that language is upsetting to you, you may want to skip the last paragraph.

“ I return again in early fall to the thirty acres of restored tallgrass prairie in occupied Dakota Territory. I walk, thinking not of concepts, but of beings. The grasses swish against me. A few swallowtail butterflies still hover. A white-throated sparrow sings. I see coyote scat next to the path. I hear a rustle and imagine a white-footed mouse scurrying and a red fox pouncing. Above, vultures circle on the thermals. A red-tailed hawk cries not so far away. 

In this moment, the prarie is made up of millions of beings. But just over the rise, another agribusiness cornfield turns brown and brittle. Just over the rise is a barbed-wire fence, a two-lane road, an absence of bison. Just over the rise is the illogic of natural and unnatural, normal and abnormal. Just over the rise we westle with loss and desire, promise and injustice. Just over the rise are the bullies with their rocks and fists, the words monkey, defect, and retard. Just over the rise we need to choose between monocultures and biodiversities, eradication and uncontainable flourishing.

This little pocket of restored prairie is not a return to the past, nor a promise to the future, although it may hold glimmers of both. Rather it is simply an ecosystem in transition from cornfield to tallgrass, summer to winter. I feel the old corn furrows underfoot, the big bluestem waving above me, my own heart beating, imperfect and brilliant. I walk— a tremoring, slurring human, slightly off balance, one being among many. Could it all be this complexly woven and yet simple?”
Photography; Natalie Thorson Photography