Overabundance

I feed the wild birds in my backyard.
My three feeders do keep seeds handy.
In winter most wild birds find life hard.
Feeding redbirds, blue jays is dandy.

Pretty songbirds are always welcome
due to their beauty, their rarity.
Flocks of sparrows and of pigeons come
daily but are greeted with disparity.

Once I thought my disdain for the sparrow
and pigeon had to do with their drab dress.
That old thinking was simply too narrow.
Truly it’s just I see songbirds much less.

Suppose cardinals and blue jays arrived
in large flocks, whereas the sparrow was rare.
Wouldn’t the favored songbirds soon be deprived
of our attention and about the sparrow we’d care?

It’s being so commonplace that makes them
so undervalued, not their color or song.
A pigeon would be considered quite a gem
if the interval between sightings was long.

So it is with the overabundant things
in our lives; they become undervalued.
Consider the beauty that each spring brings.
Suppose springtime colors only debuted

once every decade, then how much more would
each flower draw our loving attention!
If sunset just once every six months could
be seen, would we let it pass without mention?

Overabundance cheapens things, robbing
them of true worth, causing them to remain
under-appreciated, like sparrows to robins.
What common things do you hold in disdain?

Snow-covered fields, fall leaves, the goodnight kiss
from my spouse, dawn skies, full moons are among
the undervalued items that, if rare, I’d greatly miss.
What abundant things in your life remain unsung?