Watching Wild Birds

Plump pillows behind my back,

a cozy comforter, a hot coffee

warming one hand, I quietly peer

through my window this morning

seeing Spring gently kiss the land.

On the other side of the grey gravel

recycled black pails hold treasures-

Spring bulbs about to flower

amidst fresh blue-green leaves

long and slender, sturdy and stout.

They sit at the base of a rock face-

beige and grey, rust and brown,

cracked and creased and carved,

weathered and mossed in veins,

part of a hill taken away.

Atop the incline by the flowers

of this potted garden of my new home,

I’ve thrown seed offerings to birds

amidst moss and grass and weed

just below the rusty roll of wire-

once a fence, now a perch for birds

watching the farm cats come and go.

In changing seasons and weather,

wild birds flock to my feed.

They’re not even birds of a feather,

this flock of visitors I now see

once more as often before,

males and females, young and old,

all together- sparrow, junco, towhee.

They all travel in flight together,

not minding different colour or size,

finding some reason to be together.

What that may be, I don’t know

but I delight when they’re in sight,

watching them close to the window

as I sit in my cozy nest bed

making sure they’re all well fed.

Watching them chat and dine,

I must say ‘The pleasure is mine’.

My reward is simply that pleasure-

birds and flowers, a visual treasure.

Coffee gone, it’s time to get up now,

change and move on with my day…

March 23, 2023

Shelley Audrey Wilson

Victoria, BC