Grackles

More backyard observations.  The grackles are in ascendance.  I miss the coyote.  Perhaps he ate all the crab apples.  Or perhaps something else finished them off.

The yard is filled with grackles

And the occasional squirrel.

They vie for the territory.

The grackles have

The edge.

Numbers count here.

Sixty massed grackles

Overtake one,

Even two,

Squirrels.

One grackle claims victory

For the flock

From his post

At the top of the garage.

Or perhaps he is afraid

Of the squirrels.

It is hard to know,

Not being knowledgeable

In the language

Of grackles.

The coyote has been unseen

Since the crab apple incident.

I worry

He may never return.