THE WORKS OF JAYS
As autumn leaves begin to fall,
Blue jays suddenly appear.
Although we do not hear them call
They fitfully flit here and there.
All summer they have silently
Flown about their busy-ness.
Some say that they’ve been stealthily
Stealing from their neighbors’ nests.
In spring we heard them constantly
Sounding their rude and raucous cries,
Warning their fellow flyers away
From male-selected nesting sites.
But now it is the acorn crop
That they are fiercely focused on,
Interring nuts in shallow tombs
For winter harvest under snow.
It’s said, without their ministries
Our oaks would not be so widespread:
And so it is that minor deeds
Have wide and weighty consequence.
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