Songbirds and Roses
Subtitle: The Unusual Life Story of an Unusual Poem
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: Black Skylark Singing
Published: August 2025
Place of publication: USA
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 98
ISBN-13: 9798999448217
Copyright date: August 2025
First sentence: How does a night-time concert performed in 2002 by dozens of birds in the back yard of a home, on the southeastern coast of the United States, evolve into a poem which eighteen years later provides inspiration for music composed almost 5,000 miles away?
Description: This paperback edition of Songbirds and Roses, The Unusual Life Story of an Unusual Poem (ISBN 979-8-9994482-1-7) features dramatic black and white renderings of the original color plates published in the eBook format (ISBN 979-8-9994482-0-0). More than simple illustrations of the story, they provide an experience of extra-sensory immersion capable, to an extent, of duplicating the shared adventure as the author-poet-artist first experienced it. 

A corresponding YouTube video it titled A Glimpse Inside the Mystery of Songbirds and Roses.

The captivating music of birds and the enchanting beauty of roses have, each in their own right, inspired people around the world for as long as anyone can remember. How the two combine with the challenges faced by a struggling writer in Georgia to create a nonfiction metaphysical mystery makes for compelling reading. 

The question of why any of this matters at times of historic political upheavals, world-destroying wars, extreme climate change events, and painful social tensions is an important one. The answer has to do with how the labors of human imagination and the elusive mysteries of life itself, help us confront some of humanities biggest problems with small surprises.

As stated at the beginning of the first chapter of SONGBIRDS AND ROSES, it all starts with a midnight invasion of seemingly harmless birds. Their raucous sing-song chatter unsettles the well-organized life of a writer, who is also a dedicated caregiver, in a way never anticipated. Frustration eventually gives way to understanding the birds represent something more than infuriating aggravation. They come bearing an unexpected gift that eventually creates a ripple effect of connections and music through different lives and communities.  

The book also features a bonus story in which a bus ride, and a power line filled with resting birds, prompts provocative questions about the choices we make when it comes to putting more faith in violence than in peace. 

Readers of such titles by Aberjhani as Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah, These Black and Blue Red Zone Days, and The American Poet Who Went Home Again are familiar with his innovative blends of literary style. Songbirds and Roses provides the perfect opportunity for readers new to his work to discover his captivating fusion of personal essay, literary history, spiritual reflections, poetry, and sociopolitical commentary.
Table of contents: title: Prologue     1; title: Chapter 1. A Noisy Night in Georgia    3; title: Chapter 2. In Search of Reasons Why    15; title: Chapter 3. “We” Make the News    23; title: Chapter 4. “Aloha” from a Land Far Away  31; title: Bonus Story: Twenty-nine Birds on a Wire   55; title: Epilogue: Resilience and Empowerment   71  Appendix: Gratitudes of a Dozen Roses    77; title: About the Author-Artist    83