On Becoming a Bird by Emily Darrell art by Robinson Accola Becoming a bird was not what I expected. The songs are fucking hard to learn, first thing, and there are still so many I don't even know. Sometimes I just move my beak and pretend. Finding food is never easy and with such a small stomach you can only digest a little at a time. Overeat: die. Don't find enough: die. It's a tough balance. And then there's the nest building. Jesus Christ, don't even get me started on the nest building! Though really, who becomes a bird for anything but the flying? Just as in a dream, the flying is all there is. How can I explain it? It starts with an aloneness different from all other alonenesses. The feeling is not that of being a puppet, nor a balloon. There are no strings from above jerking you about like a marionette, nor from below, holding you to the earth like a tether. There is awareness, but no awareness. Movement, but no movement. Sky, but no sky. Each flight is the same as the one that came before, and then different from the one that will follow. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2010 by its authors.
	Emily Darrell is just back from a year teaching at a university in Bucharest, Romania and is planning her next move. Read the interview. Robinson Accola creates artwork for SmokeLong Quarterly as needed.
	Issue Twenty-Seven (December 20, 2009): Four Disconnected Truths About My Father by James Tadd Adcox «» I Am Born by Grant Bailie «» Americano Mens by Martin Cloutier «» On Becoming a Bird by Emily Darrell «» Vacation by Peter DeMarco «» Imagines He's a Bear by Ryan Dilbert «» Heavenward by S. H. Gall «» Bowling for Dollars by Amie Hartman «» When the Cicadas Come by Tara Laskowski «» Love and Destruction in a '67 El Dorado by David Lindsay «» To the Women in Line at the Walgreens Pharmacy by Sean Lovelace «» Greenback Fly by Dennis Mahagin «» Arecibo by Andrew McIntosh «» My Friend by Gary Moshimer «» Elstor by Jefferson Navicky «» Winter by Alec Niedenthal «» Fork by Glen Pourciau «» Stalling by Andrew Roe «» The Runner by Curtis Smith «» Unicorns by Scott Stealey «» Orbit by Brandi Wells «» Interviews: Grant Bailie «» Martin Cloutier «» Emily Darrell «» Peter DeMarco «» Ryan Dilbert «» S. H. Gall «» Amie Hartman «» Tara Laskowski «» Sean Lovelace «» Dennis Mahagin «» Andrew McIntosh «» Gary Moshimer «» Jefferson Navicky «» Alec Niedenthal «» Glen Pourciau «» Andrew Roe «» Curtis Smith «» Scott Stealey «» Brandi Wells «» Cover Art "View From the Lincoln Bedroom" by Marty D. Ison