How often do we find ourselves too preoccupied within our own little worlds to realize when something truly momentous is happening outside of them? Are we paying enough attention to those around us to really hear what they are saying? Jim Christensen created this series “Winged Words” to poke fun at people (using barbed wire) and get them to realize, “Yeah, I do that, too.”

In this extreme example, a very self-important individual, in all his pomp and finery, fails to realize the heavenly nature of his visitor because he’s just not listening. In Latin, the angel says, “I am dead.” The man’s response to his rather uncommon occurrence, “How do you like my clothes?” underscores how little he is paying attention. The pear in the man’s hand, one bite taken — bordering on the over-ripe, is a reminder that we may not have all the time we think we do to amend these failures in communication.