Early Birds
February wind sends a dozen dozen robins
for a preemptive strike on spring.
Other flocks fill the treetops
and make polka dot clouds that fly
imperceptible patterns. Orange-billed
and twitch-tailed, the red breasts
come close to the window
then scout through the yard,
clearing the path for starlings
and flying jewel cardinals
that swoop down on rushing air.
Every gust blows a tide of them
in and then out, but they all
ignore the feeder, its seed
spilled on the ground. Bold
they approach the soft earth
of last year's garden and till the soil
for real food, live food, the kind that fights.