Invasive English Sparrow Song
Peter Schmidt
Lawnmower waste over asphalt
grass seeds
seized upon
by sparrows
plus there’s dirt
good for dousing
as feathers shiver
with dust-bath ecstasy.
After the party
the flock flies to cover
with a
lilt and a
bounce
a-lighting in a tree
together
twittering.
As a species
though
English sparrows
are murderous
motherfuckers.
When it comes to
nesting
if they can’t kill
other birds for one
they stake out
a space almost
anywhere, including
inside traffic lights
gutters, eaves
or vents.
I once saw
straw dangling
out of a
phone pole’s
old junction box
which now have
a hard case
not a soft cover
thanks to sparrows.
Their insistent
cheep cheep
is heard all over
“We’re here
here
here
&here! ”
Intruders
always aggressive
against
other intruders.
But
they’re also here
because of us.
They prefer habitats
we’ve altered
even eating cooked
insects off of
the grills of our cars.
In some ways
they make a home
with our stuff
better than
we do
and with almost
as much noise.
About our bounty
and our poisons
and what others
make of them
we — an invasive
species too —
seem mostly
oblivious.
The Science
‘English Sparrow Song’ looks candidly at how aggressive and invasive this species is, seeing both things to admire and things not so admirable. The poem takes an ironic turn near the end, suggesting that in many ways the qualities we humans might disparage in this bird well define our own species’ behavior too. Though some of the poem is clearly speculative and opinionated, the descriptions of this species’ behavior are consistent with published science and observations posted online by non-scientists.
The Poet
Peter Schmidt is an educator, published scholar, poet, and birder who lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He used PI (poetic intelligence), not AI, to create this poem.
Next poem: Pica Rite by Dave Jilk