Partridges – Annika Perry


PARTRIDGES WITHOUT A PEAR TREE

Come hither, seek refuge
Upon our verdant lawn.
Safe from hunters who
seek to drive your kind forth.

Your two bulbous bodies
step with confidence across the grass,
heads bobbing up and down in counterpoint
peck, pause, peck, pause.

Blood-red eyes assess the danger.
None.
The perfect bulls-eye
for a shot.

Crimson beaks puckered
ready for action,
mediterranean blue flecks
dappled upon your necks.

As for your brown colouring
tawny, tan, mottled, striking,
golden, shimmering, majestic,
Anything but dull.

Starring glumly from the fence
the two resident pigeons.
Bemused, irked, egos dented 
as they give ground and wait.

Patience a necessity
this grey afternoon 
as the red-legged partridges
explore, feed, recuperate.

The blue tits fret anxiously
eager to return to the feeders.
I, however, gaze in awe
at our unusual visitors.

You’re welcome, again.
Anytime!
I better get out
to plant a pear tree!

©Annika Perry, March 2024