goldfinches

goldfinches

 

early morning 7 a m,

swilililipping, skipilipping

ceased,

from next-door neighbour’s alder tree,

airily, bouncily, goldfinches

down-swoop

heads striped black, red and white;

wings black with broad bar

yellow bright -

followed by a second

and a third,

beaks steeled to pinpoint, pilfer, pinch,

patiently sown seeds

from flower bed

newly stripped of weeds.

 

as bold as brass,

heads high; shoulders back,

strutting their stuff,

royal logistics corps-like,

probing here, prodding there,

with military precision,

before reaching a decision,

to search for seeds

elsewhere.

 

@ rowland paul hill