Woodpeckers, Jays, squawky Grackles emptying feeders

The Crows wait on the ground for theirs

Never a cute little Bluebird, a Yellow Finch

Always the loud insistent sloppy eaters

 

Bags of seed and slabs of suet disappear daily

Trips to the hardware store a weekly event

Needing a coupon each time to keep bellies full

The pleasure of nature becoming a mandate

 

Now Pigeons in the barn dirty feathers abound

A nightmare of bodily debris gathers

Swooping low to exit with indignant cries

As though their eviction would be illegal

 

A mother Robin manages to hatch her young

Risking trips for food while Pigeons complain

Perhaps another week until her babies can fly

To leave this hostile world and return to trees