The Nest

Sally slept in a sparrow house and was never late to the nightly meeting again.

Thousands upon thousands they come down,
All at once at five p.m.
And they fill every branch of a hundred trees
Beside the Old Spaghetti Factory.

They tell each other where the food was good,
And who got hit by a car that day
Which springs still flowed clear
And where the drought pulled them away.

"Sally is late for the meeting," one caws
And then Sally flies in with a few hundred friends
Bright eyes glistening as she 🐦‍⬛ crows,
"I'm here!"

And she brings a friend, a house sparrow
And master builder,
To prepare not for spring and breeding
But for the largest winter crow roost
That Portland ever had.

And that house sparrow carries a wad of warm wool
And ten others are handling a roof,
And four wooden walls
And a round entry hall,
And they all slip inside for proof.

"But we crows sleep on trees when we roost,
And we nest far apart when it's warm,"
Said Bill, and he softened his words
With his usual corvid charm.

At the end of the evening a new house hung
And when all of the rest dispersed
Sally stayed abed, shaking her head,
And said, "Tonight I'll be here first."