Speckled Thief
The Starling is a speckled thief
that comes with morning light.
He struts upon my porch
to steal himself a bite.
It wouldn't be so bad
if only one bird nibbled.
But, for some unknown reason
the whole flock must be kibbled.
The bunch is quite selective,
taking only pods of gold.
Just the brown bites left behind.
It's like they tasted old.
My dog scares the UPS man!
He bites my brother, too!
But when it comes to Starling,
he doesn't know what to do.
He watches them take bite by bite
'til all the gold is gone.
Then, barks for me to help him.
He knows they've done him wrong.
The only way to stop them
is feeding late at night.
Then the skunk and possum come
and there's a different fight.
So, I feed him a little,
where the birds can't steal a bite.
Without the gold to fill their craws,
the Starling soon take flight.
By Ray Dillard for Joyce Johnson
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