I have a motley of black and brown
hooligans stomping through my garden
uprooting small plants and creating
havoc. Egging each other on, they
toss things about in a determined
silence and a high state of alert.
Perched on the rim of an empty pot
a juvenile, newly fledged, incites
the parent pair to greater effort
with urgent, fluent, body language
that brings an amused smile to my face.
A determination to retain
the big mature hedging that is host
to a variety of nests, negates
the effort of maintenance for this
mini ecosystem that brings such
reality, such delight, to my garden.