ORNITHOLOGY

I called the birds to breakfast seed –
The quail cooed in reply –
And flinching sparrows let me know
They heard my whistled cry.

My siblings have their dogs and cats –
Their sturdy children, too –
While I just feed the wilderness –
My flying fenceless zoo.

A scrub-jay perches on the porch
In azure majesty –
While juncos, finches – felines – search
My grass menagerie.

(18 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)