African Hoopoe Chattering of War and Peace in the Eye of The Beholder, a Daily Dose of Peace

A Daily Dose of Peace. Each week, I focus on Love, Joy, and Peace in the world languages. January’s fourth week focuses on Southern Africa in Africa.

African Hoopoe bird famed of the Xhosa idiom “Ilanga ligqats ubhobhoyi” poetry with Kimberly Burnham

A Bird of Meaning Hoopoe

What do you see
a bird chattering
in the heat of the sun
the African Hoopoe bird
gives rise to a Xhosa idiom

“Ilanga ligqats’ ubhobhoyi”
the sun is roasting the African hoopoe
meaning the sun is very hot

The hoopoe (Upupa epops)
a colourful bird found across Afro-Eurasia
a distinctive “crown” of feathers
an onomatopoeic name imitates her cry

The hoopoe national bird of Israel
state bird of Punjab province of India
appears on the logo of a university
U of Johannesburg, South Africa

Sacredness associates the Hoopoe with Solomon
whose name means peace from Shalom in Hebrew
and is mentioned in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Butterfly that Stamped”
a symbol of virtue in Persia
a leader of the birds in Persian poems
The Conference of the Birds / “Mantiq al-Tayr” by Attar

Hoopoes thought of as thieves across Europe
a harbingers of war in Scandinavia

So what is the Hoopoe really?
what you choose to see and focus on

African Hoopoe bird famed of the Xhosa idiom “Ilanga ligqats ubhobhoyi” poetry with Kimberly Burnham

Originally Published in Peace Poetry Dictionary, The Meaning of Peace and Calm in 5000 Languages on January 24, 2021.