Oi!

Most mornings
lost in my poetic musings
I forget my basic duty
to the vocal, local birds

It’s usually the robin or the blackbird
that grabs my attention

Oi! Breakfast Man! Less Dreamy Poetry! More Practical Prose!

It’s such a simple task
to scatter a handful of sunflower seeds
upon the slate of the bird table
but oh the almost instant rewards

My avian crew
more entertaining than social media ever could be

Back in January
there were three robins scrapping for domination
but I knew the plump one would win through
– it’s not called a pecking order for nothing

Robin, blackbirds, great tits, blue tits, chaffinches, tree sparrows,
the occasional mighty rook or resplendent magpie
(who will scarper if I even think about blinking)

For a couple of weeks a charm of seven goldfinches
utterly charmed me
and then one day
were gone

There’s even a pair of blue tits from the bottom of the paddock
who, with fluttering and pulsing swoops, make the long journey
across the open field of my view
to return home with just a solitary seed within their beaks

Fancy that!
A hundred yards powered by a single sunflower seed
with fuel to spare

Sunflowers transmuted into flight before my very eyes

If I could fly for a hundred yards on a single sunflower seed
I’d be the happiest man alive

As it is, vicarious flight
is its own delight
and – lucky me – my daily, morning joy

Oh! Thank both heaven and earth
for all of my feathered neighbours

especially for the ones that go

Oi!