"Feed me, Sweetie"

A closeup of nature over at dversepoets.com...

June evenings find me
on my front porch,
watching mauve-gold sunsets,
waiting to see who or what
will come visit me

A brown-tailed squirrel's eyes ask
 "where are the peanuts?",
 then runs up the yellow-
green maple tree
White yellow ribbons of sun
play in branches and on backs of
newly arrived goldfinches
seeking niger and sunflower seeds.
Juncos and nuthatches forage
what leftovers fall to the ground
I am partial to the black-capped,
chestnut-winged chicadees
 for their personalities and song
        (chee-dee-dee)
Used to me now, they let me know
when feeders have been empty long
They are bold enough to land
on my elbow, not ready
to eat out of my hand
Rufous and Anna hummingbirds,
 dressed in neon red and lemon-lime,
respectably, hover near me,
fluttering, as if to say something
profound. Then, drawn by
natural nector, they buzz to
the nearest clump
of flowers, pretty violet
columbine

Squirrel up a tree...

Today at dversepoets.com    we are writing about 
what's out our window ...my contribution:                                   

He scouted the area to see how safe                                           
to climb the tree to the birdfeeder;
literally flying through branches
he leaped from cedar to cedar
He hung from a bough, stretching himself
grabbed the suet cage by his feet
He twitched and turned, trying to steal                                                     
the food put out for birds to eat                                          

And Aha! I had secured the little 
door's latch with wire,
so he could not open it 
or knock it on the ground.
Nuthatches and chickadees arrive,
go to the other bird feeders,
mixed nuts and seeds,
 spilling to the ground -
a woodpecker muscles his way in.

To be sure in the spring there will be

more birds outside my kitchen window;

..hummingbirds, swallows, robins, jays

When a girl scout in 3rd grade,

we drew birds, learned their calls 

and names - and sketched them

I think of birds in movies,

of Alfred Hitchcock fame,

The Thornbird that sings beautifully 
and then dies

Doves coo in a kings court

and our state's bird is 
the Goldfinch

  I see that his tail gets caught 

on a protruding branch's joint

Try as he may to loosen himself,

he's fearful as I approach and can't

He tries to run harder, faster,

but to no avail - he's stuck

spinning his wheels, his tail

wrapped around it,

adhering like velcro does.

So I pick up a walking stick

from beside the door,

climb a bit to reach -

and by extending the rod,

doing my best to keep my balance

I fail to unstick his tail with the first attempt.

Panicking was he as I maneuvered myself

to the edge of the porch

Finally I manage to get the angle right, 

knock his tail free,

 hopefully not hurting him;

he runs into the forest squeaking

leaving a large tuft of fur attached 

to the bough;   Ah, something soft 

for  bird nest building in the spring.