Friday, March 13, 2020

BIRDCALL

Ab initio, there were grackles
Calling to each other 
With affectionate creaks.
Admiring apes heard them
But couldn't manage
To speak as grackles do
Even when they stood
On two legs and hollered;
(Extremely hoarse men
Still don't sound like grackles)
Ages went by; hunters
Became herdsmen became 
Planters became builders
Became townsmen who
Needed gates to keep out
The hunters and herders 
And planters who'd failed 
To keep up with progress.
If you forget to oil city gates
They begin to creak and sound 
Rather like amorous grackles
Since then it's all been anticlimax.

No comments:

Post a Comment