My neighbour
wondered where all the birds were going to
"to my yard,"
I replied
the Cockatoos for the green almonds
Blackbirds and Mynas for ground cover insects
Crows bark-scavenging for borers and tree worms
Honeyeaters fighting all comers for flowering red gums pollen
Pigeons fossicking the soil minding their own business
to finish giant Fruit Bats
some say escapees from a botanical gardens cull
add a creepy aura at night.
While the red gums bloom
the honeyeaters
quarantine my garden
from other bird species
even my best mate
the little blackbird
hides behind garden pots
terrified
when he visits.
Haiku-flowers and hummingbirds
Dripping with nectar
Baskets rampant with fushia
Honeyeaters feast
Margaret Foster. April 2012
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.