For the Birds

Snowy egrets are out in full force.
They rearrange their lumpy feathers,
comb through tiny orange wildflowers,
blowsy tufts of gone-to-seed grass.

Doves romance each another with comical gestures.
One swollen swain croons to his lady love
who cannot wait to take flight,
 hide among pine cones and needles.

A giant blue heron patrols the bluff edge,
twists his long neck for a better look.
Blackbirds explode from the underbrush,
scream insults as I pass and dislodge them.