Singing with Abandon

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. ~Chinese proverb

I
Looked out
My window
And saw these two
Curious finches
Perched in a dogwood tree,
Glancing into the distance.
I couldn’t help wondering what
Their tiny, beady eyes were seeing
As they peered into space … and perhaps time.

Flitting from branch to branch, the two finches
Kept up a constant chattering sound,
Filling the air outside with a
Delightful round of music.
Would that people, too, felt
Free to sing their songs
Shamelessly and
Fearlessly,
Without
Qualm.

Note: Poetry form is Double Etheree. You can find out more about this form here.

Lesson Learned

A house was not a home without animals. ~Abby Geni, The Wildlands, 2018

My neighbor got a flock of ducks;
Six, to be exact.
Two were white and four, brown.
I confess, I was gobsmacked.

Every day as the clock chimed three,
The ducks emerged outside.
Where they lived the rest of the time
I never learned (though I tried).

They picked and scratched at stuff on the ground;
They stretched their necks and wings.
Where was their water, I often wondered;
How did they know these things?

One day they ventured into my front yard,
And Monkey had a fit.
They couldn’t know he’s a herding dog,
Bred to chase a bit.

But Monk could only watch them strut —
His back yard is entirely fenced.
And one day, to my complete surprise,
A truck pulled up and commenced…

To load the pretty ducks all up
And carry them away.
Sold, or given, to a nearby farm
Where they’ll have room to play.

The truth is, my neighbor confessed,
Ducks make a lot of poop.
And having to clean his yard every day
Was worse than banishing the group!

Note: The best I can tell, this poetry form is in common meter — alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.