On D-Day, June 6, 1944, a British military pigeon known as NURP 40 TW 194 set out across the English Channel carrying this urgent message:

AOAKN HVPKD FNFJU YIDDC

RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX

PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH

NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ

UAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH

LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ

KLDTS GQIRU AOAKN 27 1525/6

That day, allied soldiers invaded the beaches of northern France, overcoming Nazi forces and turning the tide of World War II. NURP 40 TW 194 made the journey from France to England, but got trapped in a chimney before reaching home. The message was found nearly 70 years later. It has never been deciphered.

This work represents a period of rumination on messages, family, war, dutiful animals, and the instinct to return home.