Poems: Wilcox

Teaching an Old Bird New Tricks

A brilliant red hat was recently added to a tree
in the free rent zone for birds in our green backyard.
To be precise, it's a birdhouse shaped like a hat.
With a broad brim and trim bow, the birdhouse
is for old broads. I mean birds. You know the kind:
wobbling, wasted wrens or molting chickadees left
behind when the pretty master flew south last fall.
Tillie the downtrodden turtledove might find the red
hat a retirement home, a comfy place to take a load off.
Poor Tillie is clearly down at heels, having been topped
so many times her tail feathers quiver like quills when
she flutters. Still she preens herself hopefully as she sips
an afternoon tea from the dirty bird bath next to our deck.
Toothpick thin, scabby legs don't deter Tillie from her
strutting. She believes an old bird adage: flaunt it freely.

I drove a nail and hung the hat tree house on a Sunday
and waited patiently for the right bird to discover sub-
urban life. Two or three days passed before an old bird lit.
She was a Burberry brown, dusky-looking sparrow, common
as red clay in the Carolinas. Didn't even have to check
out whether the hat was pointed in the right direction like
picky blue birds, who require an open field and a south-
eastern view. Did not matter to Sarah Sparrow if the hat
was slap-dashed onto an ageing dogwood tree, either.
Ms. Sparrow could have cared less if the hat house was
so low down a black snake could easily slither up and
steal her eggs or eat the young. Not laying eggs or feeding
worms and bugs to screaming mouths now. Done with that.

A while after she found her red hat home, Sarah began
making her nest. Oh, yes, she knew it was late spring,
too late in fact for mothering and all that sort of thing.
She was not looking for a place to lay eggs or get laid
for that matter. Just the right place to lay her head at
night. It was pure coincidence she was near three full
bird feeders, a large bird bath, and in a sheltered alcove
that neither foul weather nor the prissy cat could disturb.
By day's end Sarah had enough sticks inside and bird
poop posted outside to consider her home made. Could
have fooled me, but I believe I saw a horny young sparrow
topping Sarah early today. Funny how moving into a brand
new red house will cause the young guns to heat up and an
old bird to toss out her hormone cream and wrinkle pills.

Teaching an Old Bird New Tricks
was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2006.