Birds:
January
4th,
2016
I
wait
in
the
sun
for
the
library
to
open,
on
this
the
first
frigid
day
of
a
winter
that
has
seemed
more
like
May.
I
wait
beside
a
garden
full
of
trees,
evergreens,
or
mostly
bare;
lawns,
still
green;
and
singing,
warbling,
tweeting,
squawking
birds.
Puffed
up,
self-‐important,
four
sparrows
preen.
Then,
I
spot
a
much
bigger
bird
-‐-‐a
hawk,
I
think,
a
Red-‐Breasted
Hawk!
Not
so
fast!
He
flies
past
to
give
me
a
better
look,
but
he’s
just
a
jumbo
robin,
alas!
aboutbirds
shows
only
“Red-‐Shouldered
Hawk,”
though
its
breast
is
peachy
red.
Two
mistakes:
imaginary
bird
and
climate
change.
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