T H E     E A R L Y     B I R D               

They’ll tell you kid, like they told me

That it’s the early bird that gets the worm.

Sometimes it’s true, this pearl of wisdom they trot out

You see them in the garden, now

and then, all preening, strutting pride

These round and fluffy avian gourmets

Pek-pekking at the ground so earnestly

To gain that worm!

That slippy-slimy A.M. taste-treat that

is theirs to pluck in morning’s dew and haze.

But just consider this --

(It’s just as true

But something that they tend to hide from you) --

Sometimes it is the worm that gets the bird.