Bats and Guns
I wrote a song titled Where is the White Nose for the Gun, and then did this series of prints. titled Bats and Guns. It came about because of two news stories I had heard over a couple of weeks and how tragic they both are, yet how different their news coverage is. They are unrelated stories but somehow very related to the state of the human race, to our differences. On the one hand you have the massacre in Aurora, Colorado and the upsurge in gun sales brought on by the shootings. The passionate pleas to maintain gun rights and the equally passionate pleas to ban assault weapons. The argument of needing self-defense on one hand and on the other hand you have the plight of the bat, so essential to life on our planet - dwindling in numbers and in danger of extinction and yet there is no outcry, not even close to the outcry over guns! Both are dark and mysterious, both send forth flying objects, both illicit fear in people, both are hidden in plain sight, both have the potential to affect the life of mankind. Is it because he cannot possess the bat that more are not outraged at their imminent demise? Is it that the connections are not widely known between the bat and how integral they are to pollination, our food chain, insect management? White Nose Syndrome is killing bats to near extinction, and in my mind I wonder where is the White Nose for the Gun so that it might, too, become extinct. I guess I just do not understand the human mind, and how short sighted it can be.
bats and guns
behind the Sun
spend the day in Dark Places
only come out at night
just not made for the light
shrouded in mystery both
should we hold them in our hand?
it's a sad day for the soft Flyers
where is the white nose for the gun?
extinct is a word like infinite
our minds can't wrap around
what does it mean to lose something forever
how can there be no bounds
loss of life comes from our fingers
and the hard Barrel we embrace
tells the tale of possession
the wicked mother of haste
shrouded in mystery both
should we hold them in our hand?
it's a sad day for the soft Flyers
where is the white nose for the gun?
secrets they hold, a future unknown
fill us with awe or fill us with dread
please Handle With Care, it's a delicate prize
up in the air or under our bed
behind the Sun
spend the day in Dark Places
only come out at night
just not made for the light
shrouded in mystery both
should we hold them in our hand?
it's a sad day for the soft Flyers
where is the white nose for the gun?
extinct is a word like infinite
our minds can't wrap around
what does it mean to lose something forever
how can there be no bounds
loss of life comes from our fingers
and the hard Barrel we embrace
tells the tale of possession
the wicked mother of haste
shrouded in mystery both
should we hold them in our hand?
it's a sad day for the soft Flyers
where is the white nose for the gun?
secrets they hold, a future unknown
fill us with awe or fill us with dread
please Handle With Care, it's a delicate prize
up in the air or under our bed
