The Starling Poem by Gert Strydom

With my glistening green-black feathers I sit in the sun
in the top of the apricot tree where I do cry out my authority
and from here I view the whole world from up high,

for long moments do reflect on how wonderful my life is
and when the first white blossoms appear before the leaves do come
I do peck at them, do already taste how the fruits are going to taste
until I am though the whole orchard from tree to tree

and from up high I am aware of the fig trees
with their fruit that already do appear in the early spring
and even before they can bulge and become ripe
I do inspect them and then do also devour them

and later when I do fly into the pomegranate hedge
do swing up and down from branch to branch
there are everywhere fruit around me
which I do eat to my heart's content

but the peach trees I do avoid like a pest,
do leave the peaches for the weavers, the coly and the worms
but when the gardener has mowed the lawn
I do spy on it for caterpillars and insects
before I do dive down and peck them up one by one.