Can you hear the parrots of Manor Grove
over the traffic on Andrews Avenue?
They are arguing or laughing. They are
gossiping or singing, rehearsing choral
numbers and solos for a concert. Clannish
and bossy. Possessive and demanding.
Issuing directives about predatory hawks.
They fear no squirrel, raccoon or iguana.

Can you find them on the branches blending
in with leaves the color of their feathers?
You rarely see them on the ground, waddling
through the duck-trodden grass. Avoiding
the yellow bamboo stalks where they stand
out like Pentecostals at a porn shoot. Flying
in cacophonous formation, waiting for someone
to notice, perhaps write a poem about them.

Gregg Shapiro is the author of eight books including the poetry chapbook Fear of Muses (Souvenir Spoon Books, 2022). Recent/forthcoming lit-mag publications include The Penn Review, RFD, Gargoyle, Limp Wrist, Mollyhouse, and Impossible Archetype, as well as the anthology Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville, 2023).