The Acts of the Reappearing Pheasant

On February 17th, 1454, Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, held the legendary "Feast of the Pheasant," swearing upon the resplendent bird to summon a crusade against the Ottomans. The crusade never left the realm of promise. Yet, the memory of that feast endures-like an epic whose final lines drift just beyond reach, whole in form yet incomplete, for each retelling reflects the restless, reiterative nature of the human condition. Poetry, too, stands at the threshold of fulfillment, chasing after