Two Grackles and a Cat
Two grackles, black birds
shiny and iridescent,
nest again this year
high and deep
in our tall spruce.
In short order
they have babies
loudly begging.
Otherwise they’d ignore
the cat in the yard keeping
rabbits and squirrels
out of the vegetable garden.
He’s not a house cat
not a street cat
more of a yard cat
my wife bribes with food
to guard her tomatoes.
But every year when
the grackles have babies
begging high in the spruce
the cat has to watch out
because the birds take turns
diving out of the tree
right for his head.
They’re fighter planes
with kamikaze fervor
making certain the cat
stays far away and
guards his tomatoes.
Donal Mahoney
