Preparation

Shadows flicker on my billboard
as sun gives life to forms outside
my office window blocked by slitted blinds.
Sparrows come to feed through winter,
knocking each off buffet perch.
Fluttering balance, rapid wings
disarm the fixed forms of pencils,
pens that stand as battlements
inside a giant Daffy Duck mug.
Chickadees wait their turn,
eyeing up a peanut butter banquet
more fattening than any black seeds.
The swaying tube feeder betrays them all,
soon to run empty with setting sun,
well below zero.

1/21/11