I love red-winged blackbirds, especially listening to them sing in the spring. The population took a serious nose-dive somewhere between the early 1970s - when I used to see them as we were traveling around in our motorhome - and the early 1980s - when I was old enough to drive and see things for myself. Now I live near an ephemeral stream that has reeds in it that the birds like to gather in. They light in our neighbor's tree and on the fence, and start their songs in the spring.
So, inspired by hearing their songs not only where I live, but also while I was out on a bike ride in another county (the bike ride is called Party Pardee, and goes around Pardee Lake) today, I created the poem for today.
It's a set of four haiku-like stanzas, since I love that form, especially for nature-related themes.
Enjoy!
