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Andrew James Weatherhead: Poem for my neighbor’s bird,     which I took care of for 10 days while they were in Turkey

February 9, 2015 by PBQ

Bianca –
diamond-tailed something
I have fed you food
meant for canaries
and finches, of which
you are neither

you ate all of
the seeds and all
but one of the types
of grains and then
I gave you some “grit”
for your digestion

it’s not clear
to me how you
eat because you only
seem to smack the dish
with your beak, scattering
food everywhere, and
plus I’ve never seen
you swallow

at home
I typed “diamond-tailed”
into google and
autocomplete said
you are a dove

so, you are a dove

I see there are
lots of you in Australia

and sometimes you
eat ants

our final afternoon
together you coo’d
at me and pecked
my hand, which drew
blood, then you laid
an egg, which was weird

Filed Under: Contributors 91, Issue 91, Poetry, Poetry 91 Tagged With: Andrew James Weatherhead, Contributors 91, Poetry, Poetry 91

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