An Avian Primer
A glossary of selected terms from the record (thanks, Internet), paired with some insight into Bird’s lyrical licensing
by Lee Stabert
Dark Matter (from “Dark Matter”): Matter, not directly observed and of unknown composition, that cannot be detected directly, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter. It makes up the vast majority of mass in the observable universe. It has been noted that the names “dark matter” and “dark energy” represent our ignorance, much like the marking of early maps with terra incognita. Birdspeak: The mysterious incarnation of the question of “where the true self resides”; the elusive answer to an unanswerable question; a weapon.
Mitosis (from “Imitosis”): The process by which a cell duplicates its genetic information (DNA) in order to generate two identical daughter cells. Birdspeak: A metaphor for human relationships (“what was mistaken for closeness was just a case of mitosis”); something witnessed by his “poor Professor Pynchon,” a scientist who has just come to the devastating conclusion that “we are all basically alone.”
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