Once I went a-hunting
for a lovely indigo bunting.
But nary a bird did I see
until I espied in a tree —
a house finch.
A house finch peering at me!
With a grim, strong beak,
he mouthed a playful tweak,
yet refused to sing,
preferring teasing.
So I dropped my seed
along a narrow path.
Then he did a loop,
and an overhead dash,
stole some with a grunt —
thankless!
and that was that.
Jimmy sang
In a fourth grade choir
With acrobats and thieves
And great tall liars:
There was lanky George
With his thick black glasses
Spouting about gravity
Between science classes
Pretty pink Patty
Who was lazy as molasses
Yet somehow during PE
She’d run quickest and fastest!
Sporty Jo Baker
Who tied a two-buns do
And pirouetted in leotards
“Oh, yuck to tutus!”
Fast-mouthed McGee
Who hustled at marbles
A mama’s boy who every morning
Never failed to gargle
Playacting Sally
Who knew Shakespeare by heart
And would regale you
With every dying part
Doe-eyed Pete
Who walked like in a dream
And fibbed such scary stories
“Oh, what a scream!”
Princess Penelope
Who mascaraed her eyes
And bragged of her swimming pool
Twice Olympic-sized
There was best friend Carlos
Who wanted a motorbike
And gelled his green hair
Into Sonic the Hedgehog spikes
And Jimmy was Jimbo
A daring little man
Who sang the loudest off-key
And stole music stands
To see the teacher frown
And huddle friends all together
He’d purposely lose song sheets
Because playtime was better!
Two eyes watch upon the branch
And small talons cling as a wind sways the tree
A black-bearded specimen of avian fauna
Wonders as I pace in spiraling circles
Spitting freshly chewed grass:
An indecipherable human mating dance
Once I saw a gnome in the garden
When summer was high and I was a-yardin’
With lovely ears and an impish smile
Eyes full of tricks and rosy-faced guile
He hustled me out of a foot of grass by the fountain
By claiming he’d raze the mole hill mountain
But when the leaves fell, still it still stood
And I realized, he’d hoodwinked me good
But by then the Missus had moved in with the babes
Now I avoid that patch with the lawnmower’s blades
And wonder if a treehouse would suit better
My conniving, parental little go-getter
RED GLADIOLA 