Feathered corpses

Where have all the finches,

sparrows and mockingbirds gone?

I haven’t heard a chickadee

for several days.

Are cicadas too much competition;

where can we go this time of year

to escape insect sirens wailing?

The woodpecker, wren and robin

still visit, but my favorites have fled.

I’d put out birdseed,

if the squirrels would share.

We have cat ladies in our neighborhood

litters of kittens lounge on their sidewalk

shit and scent our front yard.

I don’t bemoan them having pet cats;

we’ve owned a few ourselves,

but they’re invasive and kill just to kill.

Take them to a shelter for adoption.

I am wondering if we could train raccoons

to prefer kittens over trash or

coyotes to dine on meals wrapped in cat fur or

red tailed hawks to roost in trees

where cat ladies foist their obsession on neighbors,

lay out rows of plastic containers

at kittyland 24 hour diners.

If you wonder where the birds have gone,

ask your cat lady; her feral pets lay gifts of

silent feathered corpses in homage at her feet.

8-28-20