Red feathers flashing
Scattering birdseed about
Happy Cardinal
Cracked sunflower seeds
Paw print menagerie
Heart-warming traces
I'm yelling at a squirrel today
Then watching her just whirl away
Her name is Little Curly Mae
She's such a pretty girl I'd say
But eats the birdseed from the tray
Then hides herself inside her dray.
Out of the corner of my eye I see something racing toward the porch where I am sitting. It is a red cardinal. Probably a female, as it is not brilliant red, looks more faded. She swoops at me, and I flinch. She abruptly pulls up and disappears - probably a messenger sent to remind me the birds are out of seed thanks to the squirrel thieves.
surprising ascent
cardinal dive bombs me today
out of seed I guess
In my meadow surrounded by forest delight,
there are more cardinals than I can count.
They wait their turn at bird feeders,
not flying in more than two at a time. A lone blue jay
waits until last to be served. Robins and wrens do not
understand there is a protocol.
They swoop in on a cardinal’s turn.
Do not get me started on crows. They will eat a whole
field of seed in a mob of sixty in two or three minutes, and they do it loudly.
a fast cardinal swoop
pinkish streak in azure sky
the birdseed boogie
Birds seem loud today
Their birdseed gone
Stolen by deer last night
One feeder destroyed
Butted up against tree trunk
Until she gave up,
Falling to the ground,
in pieces
Delighting the deer
who feasted on
ground served bird food
Cardinals are not happy
Some neighbors scatter birdseed
In the driveway every day,
Encouraging the squirrels
And the birds to come and stay.
I wonder what the reasons are
For setting out this feast,
Which may attract some critters
They don't want, to say the least.
For surely birds and squirrels
Have instinctive ways to find
Worms and acorns and some other foods
Their bellies wouldn't mind.
And I've never seen the owners
Come to watch their guests chow down,
So they're unaware the birds invite
Their friends from out of town.
Being kind to Nature's creatures
Is an empathetic trait
But a driveway open-house buffet
Is up for some debate.
I’ll grant you a modern laptop
hooked up to an HP printer
is a more efficient and cer-
tainly a cleaner means to re-
produce yr message than
the whirling drum of rebellious
black ink we depended upon
back in nineteen fifty-seven.
But when my spellcheck wants to change
brideshead to birdseed, I wonder
whether that satirist of misuse
whose black warriors ate their British
boots and used a tank to melt down
belligerent recruits would laugh or cringe
waiting for the machine to send
out once a year condolences
that the man who’d mocked stupidity
had traded life in a mansion
for a sack of sunflower seeds?
A trail of birdseed lies near a birdbath in my yard
Little friends of every kind have come for the reward
Not only are the birds singing… yes, you guessed, it’s true…
Now their friends of every kind are there singing, too.
It’s worked out rather well… As harmonious bliss gathers every day
A most amazing thing…the squirrels are growing wings along the way
I just can’t wait to see them take their… first ambling flight
With a little practice and time, I’m sure they’ll be quite a sight.
Soon the little bunnies will be nesting in the trees so…
I think that on Arbor Day I’d best plant more trees
I think God might be laughing or evolution is on the brink
I call it Devine Intervention or perhaps him giving us a wink
Such a contest!! .... what a rivalry!!
Who will win? Its a cliff hanger ...
Slowly Squirrel comes to ground,
tail flicking up and down
than off he (or is it she?)
scurries to a box in the yard
that holds bird seed
on which this little thief will feed
as Mister The Dog watches
from his snuggly bed inside.
Away from this view, I hear
an insistant whine saying,
"Let me out ... NOW!"
It might mean Mister has business
to do and, since I don't know
for sure, I open the door
as off he tears to chase
the chattering squirrel
scrambling up the tree that
now has no leaves in which to hide
but strong skeleton arms to
hold it tight, as Mister jumps
and barks and lets Squirrel know,
"I'll get you next time!"
There's always a next time ....
Better squirrel chasing as it runs up the tree
than the cat who leads Mister on a chase
all around the neighborhood ...
but thats a tale for another day!
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