Aroused by corvid chorus yesterday,
I marveled at the raucous caws I heard.
There must have been a myriad at sway
above my yard. I like the ebon bird,
but not the clots of shit they leave behind
as they take flight. So I was gratified
that when they fled no defecant maligned
the redwood deck that carpets my outside.

Appreciating my good fortune then,
I raised my gratitude to where they roost.
The eucalypt that towers like Big Ben
and shades the yard and sprinkles nuts it loosed,
is standing up, root-strong, to storm mishaps,
and so far doesn’t threaten fell collapse.