Language makes us. But we too remake language. And ourselves. If we listen, imagine, invent.
Listen to me. Listen to my language. Once upon a time it was the language of the birds. Did you listen then? Are you listening now?
I’m a person out of place. Perhaps a person without a place. But that cannot be. Surely, everyone has a place? But is the place in this time?
Let me begin again. Once upon a time … it was a very long time ago. More generations than you can count on your hands and your toes. It was in the time when the first stirrings of language were in our throats. A time of gurgling and burbling, of whistling and of singing.
It was the singing that began language. We imitated the birds. And slowly, so very slowly, words began to take shape. Words formed from the electrical charges in our brains. Concepts arising with each new song. And so, in a way, we sang ourselves, our communities into being.
This is an extract from my novel, Dark Matters.
Note
When I was finishing my novel Dark Matters, I asked Suzanne Bellamy if I could use this work of art on the cover. It reminds me of labyrinths. She responded and said she thought it was like brain pathways and then discovering that it was based on mitochondria made me even more excited to use it. Suzanne and I have worked together on many occasions, including working on the book Unsettling the Land with art by Suzanne and poetry by me. You can find some of her work here http://suzannebellamy.com/
Artwork by Suzanne Bellamy, Road Map, © 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Etched embossed monoprint on Fabriano paper.
The image interprets a photograph of Mitochondria,
the Motherline DNA, from an old Scientific American photograph.
This art was used on the cover of Dark Matters: A Novel by Susan Hawthorne, 2017.
This is lovely! I have started really listening to the birds in my yard and on my walks this summer and I am amazed at the variety and musicality of their song. Likening their song to human speech is a wonderful way to express our connection to non-human living beings.