We ate the birds. We ate them. We wanted their songs to flow up through our throats and burst out of our mouths, and so we ate them. We wanted their feathers to bud from our flesh. We wanted their wings, we wanted to fly as they did, soar freely among the treetops and the clouds, and so we ate them. We speared them, we clubbed them, we tangled their feet in glue, we netted them, we spitted them, we threw them onto hot coals, and all for love, because we loved them. We wanted to be one with them. We wanted to hatch out of clean, smooth, beautiful eggs, as they did, back when we were young and agile and innocent of cause and effect, we did not want the mess of being born, and so we crammed the birds into our gullets, feathers and all, but it was no use, we couldn’t sing, not effortlessly as they do, we can’t fly, not without smoke and metal, and as for the eggs we don’t stand a chance. We’re mired in gravity, we’re earthbound. We’re ankle-deep in blood, and all because we ate the birds, we ate them a long time ago, when we still had the power to say no. . Margaret Atwood
About This Quote

This quote seems to suggest that humans are not meant to eat birds. The writer describes the act of eating birds as an homage, an homage to how amazing it would be to be able to soar freely among the treetops and the clouds. It also suggests that humans are unable to sing, unable to fly...without smoke and metal, and yet humans are able to eat birds. This suggests that through hunting, people have been able to gain the knowledge, the skills, and the technology that they now need for their continued survival.

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