Pecking Order

Three squirrels jumped upon our kitchen roof.
They sent a roiling pigeon-cloud before them,
Then calmly sat and ate their lunch as proof
Of rank to silly birds who might ignore them.

The sparrows and the pigeons watched them eat
From perches distanced as befit their station.
Each squirrel at choice nuts in choicest seat,
Unzipping neatly his accustomed ration.

The squirrels done, the pigeons next came down
To scrounge as best they could in what was left.
The sparrows got to pick from what had blown
Away, but they were elsewise quite bereft.

Not quite what we intended: we had set
The birdseed on the roof to feed the sparrows.
But squirrels get their choice, and pigeons get
Next call; and choice for sparrows rather narrows.

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