The Backyard Birdbath

This is a poem I wrote on Thursday, the 27th, having been inspired by the activities in my backyard as I sat eating my breakfast and gazing out the window. ~SueBee (I apologize for the double spacing and lack of any sort of poetry formatting in the poem but WordPress doesn’t make it easy and I wasn’t able to figure it out.)

The backyard birdbath was the place to be

where we had such natural camaraderie.

The grackles came in as a crowd

chittering and chirping oh so loud.

Two blue jays landed by and by

while robins kept a watchful eye.

Six squirrels auditioned to be clowns,

chasing and tumbling all around.

A cardinal pair landed, bright red was he,

while a more humble appearance had she.

A woodpecker did as his name describes, and

tiny chickadees with their W. C. Fields’ vibe,

joined the mourning doves pecking for bits of seed

and, unlike others, showed no signs of greed.

A pleasant time was had all around

until all of a sudden, with nary a sound,

a youngish orange kitty, for sure a stray,

strutted through the yard as if to say

I’m the boss, surely that you must know.

It then took a long drink, as if to show.

With speed the crowd scattered far and wide

into the trees they all managed to hide

then squawked and chattered as if to show

that orange kitty’s not the boss, don’t you know.

~Susan Meyer March 27, 2025