Five Parrots and a Cat

Prior to bed
Maeve covers no cage
She binds the beak
 
of four of the five
that cruise all day
all lemon and lime
 
from drape to drape
while on the divan
Maeve weaves, Maeve sings

The fifth she thongs
to a porch rail
to screech

until morning
A week from now
Maeve will drown

the last Siamese
when unlike her brothers,
the cat won’t stop pacing

Donal Mahoney

Archived 02/16/2010