Framed by towering, lacy hollyhocks
Softly rolling in the morning breeze
You tip at the rim of the birdbath
Like the teeter totter of my childhood
Up and down
Narrow tail reaching skyward
Then dipping to the deck
Again and again
And I forget about Gaza and Paris
And revel in the moment
— Jean Munsee
This article appears in Combating the Barred Owl Invasion.