Swizzle Stick

Cockatoo Swing

No choir here, no song
from the cockatoo
who swings deliberately
on the hanging basket
of flowers, regarding
me with a live eye,
sizing me up, his creamy
form larger than that
of my outraged cat.
He unfurls his yellow
crest like a fan,
& swings, gentle,
ornamental, watchful,
with purpose, wanting
cat biscuits from the bowl.

The cat, small & black,
stands guard, defiant.
The cockatoo, patient,
swings in the flowers.