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I fell in love with Toni Morrison's words pretty young. I remember Tar Baby and Song of Solomon taking my breath away. As it happens, I just read A Mercy last week. There was one passage in particular that I wanted to share with the world. I guess today is the day to do that.
2/ Here goes. From A Mercy.
"One day, ran the story, an eagle laid her eggs in a nest far above and far beyond the snakes and paws that hunted them. Her eyes are midnight black and shiny as she watches over them. At the tremble of a leaf, the scent of any other life,
"One day, ran the story, an eagle laid her eggs in a nest far above and far beyond the snakes and paws that hunted them. Her eyes are midnight black and shiny as she watches over them. At the tremble of a leaf, the scent of any other life,
3/ her frown deepens, her head jerks and her feathers quietly lift. Her talons are sharpened on rock; her beak is like the scythe of a war god. She is fierce, protecting her borning young. But one thing she cannot defend against: the evil thoughts of man.
4/ One day a traveler climbs a mountain nearby. He stands at its summit admiring all he sees below him. The turquoise lake, the eternal hemlocks, the starlings sailing into clouds cut by rainbow. The traveler laughs at the beauty saying, “This is perfect. This is mine.”
5/ And the word swells, booming like thunder into valleys, over acres of primrose and mallow. Creatures come out of caves wondering what it means. Mine. Mine. Mine. The shells of the eagle’s eggs quiver and one even cracks.
6/ The eagle swivels her head to find the source of the strange, meaningless thunder, the incomprehensible sound. Spotting the traveler, she swoops down to claw away his laugh and his unnatural sound.
7/ But the traveler, under attack, raises his stick and strikes her wing with all his strength. Screaming she falls and falls. Over the turquoise lake, beyond the eternal hemlocks, down through the clouds cut by rainbow.
8/ Screaming, screaming she is carried away by wind instead of wing. Then Florens would whisper, “Where is she now?” “Still falling,” Lina would answer, “she is falling forever.”
9/ Florens barely breathes. “And the eggs?” she asks. “They hatch alone,” says Lina. “Do they live?” Florens’ whispering is urgent. “We have,” says Lina.
Thank you, Toni Morrison. May you rest in peace.
