El Macknine, the Algerian Goldfinch, Chardoneret Parva

“Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!” They said to me
Oh! How sweet! And bien àpropos, It has been 9 years since I started my fist blog, and posting with WordPess.com, so by the way I say:
Thank you to WordPress team for notifying me with this trophy

Now! My calling: hear it! 

(Ps: you are not obliged to listen to it till the end!
It’s so tweety, and it last too long.)

 

IMG_0092

My Calling: on the making; If It is the last thing to do, It would be that one:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings_Maya Angelou

I know why The Caged Birds sing, ah me,

when his wing is bruised and his bosom sore
when he hit the bars, 
and would  be free;
it is not a carol of joy or glee,

But a prayer that he  sends  
from his hearth's deep core,
but a plea, 
that upward to Heaven he flings

I know why the caged bird sings

Watch this page http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_Why_the_Caged_Bird_Sings

No, it’s not a joke, and it’s not an April fool, too. Though,  I had published this blog 9 years ago, it is  like if it was of yesterday, and even though, I renew my call, today: Let save the Algerian Goldfinch Mackneen.

Spring is here, and it is breeding time for El Makneen, the Algerian Goldfinch, like for billions of birds species on earth. Makneen is a nickname, one of  the  like for Tweety, the famous  Canary bird in a cage, with Tom the Cat of Walt Disney Toons, you know. As true as Cats are considered as the cleanest animals; The Nickname_”El Mackneen”, was given by an anonymous aficionado to the goldfinch because of its behavior of all day long taking care of its lit’le being feathers cleanness, bathing, and tremulously chirping, that is, besides the choice of its  prefered food of seeds, small insects  and fruits. Then,  It is the beloved pet in Algeria; for, imagine in Algiers, a city of ten million souls, a million  birds, each one in its own cage, and in each house per habitat. It’s a madness, not March, not even  an April foul.

Longtime before that, since the 20′-30’s, it was Ragtime then, in the States, Les Années-Folles, and Coco Chanel embodied that very well, and so, its was a hobby of sort then of a life style, that chic people, and  artists affectionately had a caged bird as pet a Canary, ever in Europe, or elsewhere. Then, in Algiers, Algeria, at that time, there were artists of Chaâbi Blues Music, Algerian singers, and part of  common people, as well, they had a special preference for the Goldfinch as pet.

Its became a symbol of Freedom, when Algerian people struggled for freedom, and  the Liberation of the country. Since,  El Baji, an Algerian artist and songwriter, as he had written the well-known song”El Mackneen-Ezzine” in prison, during the War of Algeria against France for occupation of the territory, in the time of the colonies era, that was  in the late 50s, after that all means of pacific claims of human rights and proposals were evacuated. So that, to get information from prisoners, the agents interrogating prisoners used all sort of expedients, and tools to make them talk. He was imprisoned and tortured_ He got inspired, then. Hence it was in vogue the French saying:”sing canary, sing.” That when  his jail guardian said this to him.

After the Independence of Algeria, in the 60’s, the Chaabi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Algeria was blooming, due to the freedom of living, unraveled from the twine of curfew and all sort of restrictions; people literally explode of joy and envy of life. Plain-air concerts, musical soirées, weddings, ceremonies of all sorts took place in the evenings of Algeria. The Mackneen songs became the favorite themes for love songs, separated lovers, and longing for beloved ones, after it has been the hymn to Freedom.Then, the Châabi music_a Blues genre, dropped down off from the interest of people, in favor for Ray Music, a Reggae like, that took over and shadowed completely the Chaâbi for decades. The little bird fella, all in all, became a pet like any another, and then, the breeding business  took over the  artistry and poetry, of savoir-vivre. In short, the bird was tracked in its utmost environmental habitat, to the farther and wildest and isolated place, with nets, and glued thin sticks, put around ponds, and shrubs, to capture it alive.

Like I said, in the beginning, the Goldfinch, likes to bath and clean itself ever since in a while, and has a prefered shrub from which it extracts the seeds. That for, the braconeers look for that place, to dress their nets and traps cage around. While  the newly hunting enjoyment becoming a profession to the extreme limits, that is, it became now a protected species by the law. Because,  it is at risk in to extinction. There were_ lachers of birds, a free to flight of wild  chicks game, for its renewal breeding in  the fona, each year after a hunting season. I wish it will be done the same for the Mackneen, and it would exist an association for the protection of the Mackneen of Algeria, and the Mackneen would be the symbol for Algiers, the City emblem, and in its armories.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

—The final stanza of Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird”[67]

Of  distant hills and vals of Oued-Roumane, Algiers, they exist no more,

and of  the Algerian Goldfinch, his tune is to be heard but none

_”You may say I am a dreamer,

but I am not the only one”._John Lennon

Pour Les Amis du chardonneret d’Alger,

for the heck of it, please get some guts, and free the lit’le dude from its cage.

Say hi to Ouled el Houma

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About Kalimelo

I am an autodidact writer, and enough of an artist to follow upon my imagination when it strikes, so pardon for some debris left here and there, when putting pen to paper. __ I write about small things of life, like about disappearing species, like the goldfinch, and reading rares books, and yes, I consider rare books as endangered species like rare birds , you only could find them in the zoo, a museum, or at the central library. __ “Yes, I read. I have that absurd habit. I like beautiful poems, moving poetry, and all the beyond of that poetry. I am extraordinarily sensitive to those poor, marvelous words left in our dark night by a few men I never knew.” ― Louis Aragon, Treatise on Style __ Writing about me is of no importance, as long as you like, so please give it a👍 and if you disliked It, please leave a comment anyway Thanks for swinging by _Kalimelo
This entry was posted in Goldfinch, Birds, chardoneret, Environment, Goldfinch, Mackine, Birds, Algeria, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to El Macknine, the Algerian Goldfinch, Chardoneret Parva

  1. Pingback: On my own words – Oh! My Blog: I am Writing

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