top of page

Tankas
Crowded Conglomerations
The pigeons bluster,
bullying robins and sparrows,
pretending their gang
can call the shots until the starlings
come and sweep them all away.
A rook, shoulders hunched,
scans the lawn with hangdog eye,
as morning’s gentle rain
caresses each glistening blade,
summoning worms to teatime.
A pair of blackbirds
proudly promenade their chick.
Insolently they
stare back, greedily gobbling
husks from the feeder above.
The trembling finches
seek asylum with cuckoos.
Magpies cease mischief
and sparrows mend their quarrels
when murdering crows pass by.
Notes:
OUP Zoom, OUP 210 (first four)
bottom of page