A Fluffy Bird Prayer…

Algy perched in a wild rose bush and gazed at the pretty flowers, which surrounded him with a delicate but lovely perfume in the cool, damp mist.

Many terrible things had been happening in Britain recently, as well as in other parts of the world, and although Algy’s home is far removed from the places in which they occurred, Algy had been as much affected by all the dreadful news as everyone else. So he bowed his head quietly and said a fluffy bird prayer for all the poor people caught up in the horror of the fires, terrorism, and acts of violence and war, both at home and abroad, and he sends everyone lots of very special extra fluffy hugs today xoxoxo

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Algy is posting this illustration from his new book especially for all his dear friends in Berlin and other parts of Germany.

He is so terribly sad that a tiny minority of human beings seem to be such cruel monsters, and they make the world appear such a dark place. But Algy never forgets that the vast majority of humans are really kind – including so many of his dear Tumblr friends – and that there are far, far more people in the world who go out of their way to do good and help others than there are who deliberately do harm.

Algy hopes that even in these times of darkness, you will always see the light that continues to shine. Algy loves you all, and sends you lots of extra special fluffy hugs xoxo

[This illustration by Jenny Chapman is from Chapter 4 of Algy’s new book The Magical Midwinter Star.]

p.s. Algy apologises for using the “photographers on tumblr” tag for an image which is not photographic, but many of his German Tumblr friends follow that tag and he wants to make sure that they see this post 🙂

Algy flew into the woodland, to a spot where the trees enclosed a beautiful lochan which formed a perfect mirror. Concealing himself in a straggly heather bush near a bed of water lilies, Algy gazed out at the water and the reflections of the trees, thinking of all his human friends in these deeply troubled times, and especially of his friends in France and Germany. In the peace and calm of the West Highland woodlands, he whispered these verses by the poet John Keats, for all his friends whose souls are wrapped in gloom just now:

When by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.

Whene’er I wander, at the fall of night,
Where woven boughs shut out the moon’s bright ray,
Should sad Despondency my musings fright,
And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,
Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof,
And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof

…

And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;
Brightening the half veil’d face of heaven afar:
So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,
Waving thy silver pinions o’er my head.

[Algy is quoting the first two verses and the last verse from the poem To Hope by the early 19th century English poet John Keats.]

adventuresofalgy:

Algy was appalled and dreadfully saddened by the awful events in Paris last night. He quickly turned himself into a Tricolor fluffy bird, and perched beside a calm, silent pool, thinking of everyone suffering in France and elsewhere as a result of human violence.

Algy is thinking especially of his dear friends in Paris today, and in these dark and dreadful hours he sings this famous poem by Emily Dickinson for you, and says please do not let go of hope. Algy is praying a fluffy bird prayer for you all today, and for peace xoxo

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

[Algy is quoting the first two stanzas of the poem “Hope” is the thing with feathers by the 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson.]

Algy is so terribly sad to have to reblog this image – which he had hoped never to have to use again after the awful attacks in Paris in November 2015 – but to his dismay, the horror continues…

He sends his fluffiest hugs to his dear friends in France, especially those on the Côte d’Azure, and to all his friends around the world who long for peace xoxoxo

Algy has been horribly shocked and deeply saddened by the terrorist attack in Brussels. It is impossible for a fluffy bird to understand how some human creatures can be so heartlessly violent and cruel. But as he perched beside the sea, wondering – like so many of his friends – how such things could happen, the sun suddenly emerged from behind a black cloud and lit up the dark rocks. In the burst of light and warmth, Algy thought of all his wonderful friends, and realised that the majority of humans were really good and kind. So Algy sang a fluffy bird song, praying that the good and kind would triumph and there would be far more fluffiness instead of violence in the world…