Am I to shun the squirrel who raids the bird feeder?

Set traps to block its path

Cause he can climb the tree to where it hangs

Above the grass now covered in snow?

Is it really about feeding the birds

Or is it about letting go?

He is not a thief

Because he did not think of my intention.

Or paid attention to my intentions

That makes such a grief

A human mood, over a package that read; “Bird food.”

Should we be so strict?

Can’t we overlook what intentions show?

It was always about letting go.

Not about calling him a rat

Among winged beauty.

Not about a chat of the past

At a counter paying for the food

And hearing the clerk say; “I feed the birds too.”

Humans try and mistakes are made,

Am I to fill the feeder with such strict duty?

Standing barefoot in this snow,

Chasing him away,

Overlooking the cold on the bottoms of my feet?

Should we quit demanding the squirrel not to eat?

All make mistakes and enjoyment comes to your feast

Divine in his climb above the snow,

Overlooking the grief and letting it go.

*

Categories: Life, Poetry

Tags: birds, EL BROOKMAN, elbrookman, feeding birds, feeding squirrels, grief, overlooking mistakes, poetry, snow, squirrels, winter