1: a lustrous rainbow-like play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes 2: a lustrous or attractive quality or effect
I have never seen a jewel - unless you count the crown jewels, but they were set in their constrictive metal structures, enclosed within claustrophobic chambers behind glass, sitting silently spotlit in darkness.
Here I see living jewels, irreducibly vivid in colour, movement and noise - their very existence a celebration - unapologetically loud, carried on wings of a grassy green whose brightness and purity sing and revealing an intense electric blue in flight, covered modestly when at rest.
There is no elegance or sophistication in their vocal brawling, quarrelling even while courting - although that could be sweet nothings in their own tongue.
My tongue is constricted as I seek language to paint a picture of a raucous handful of feathers both fragile and larger than life itself.
And I am left with a new definition imprinted in my mind.
ir·i·des·cence | \ ˌir-ə-ˈde-sᵊn(t)s \
3: Tuim (Forpus xanthopterygius)
Song
Like clockwork toys clicking and whirring
And wound up to a whistle
The cicadas sing rounds a capella
Fireflies dance at the water’s edge
Each a tiny living lantern in the darkness
Their flames snuffed out and rekindled
From moment to moment
The dark river an unceasing symphony
The trills, croaks and hoots of the soloists
Cutting through the night
My little one turns to me and laughs
I think the cicadas are singing for my birthday, she says