Killing Field

We have agarden full of a variety of birds, such a joy but..................................

Feathers

lie scattered

across the lawn,

another kill,

another sigh

of inevitability.

 

An avian spirit

has risen

back to the skies

as the fragile

carcass of magpie

was pinned down

and stripped bare

by efficient feline

teeth and claws.

 

Black and white

plumage is scattered

far and wide

like discarded

confetti

at a lychgate.

Like blossom

from the apple

tree,

white tufts

of powder down

cling

to the unmown

grass.

 

A killer

who waited

beneath the feeders

knowing

a hungry,

trusting bird,

would take the

easy pickings

of ground spoil.

 

My wife,

distraught,

entreats me

to move the

oversized hanging

seed tubes.

 

But much as I

do not deter

the squirrels,

I think nature

has a way of

providing,

of giving

and taking

according

to Darwinian

laws.

 

09/07/19

Author's Note

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

yep... i think your conclusion is spot on .. it seems so odd to me when we speak of Darwinian Theory that we take ourselves .. and our acts quite out of the picture .. anti-hunting, anti-trapping, anti-meat eating ... survival is in our marrow thought isn't it ... love your imaging .. i have come upon magpies torn just as you show us .. and it is tragic .. and a death to be respected .. its spirit given for another's life ... i feel for the wife too ..bless that sensitive heart ;(( i feed the hummingbirds ... ants and bees encroach but not to their demise ... unless they get stuck in the sticky ;) and i don't do cats ... my dogs, though gentle giants 137 and 175 lbs respectively, preclude cats around too .. although we do have a large bobcat and mountain lion down the holler a bit .. i like you poem ... title is terrifying in contrast to the unfolding scene says i ... works well ... enjoyed reading Sir John
E.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you so much 'E'. So nice to get a picture of your habitat and so fortunate to have bobcat and mountain lion nearby! Many thank yous!

[Einstein Noodle]

:) .................

[Cherrie]

A confetti of feathers... excellent choice. As Tweety Bird would say,
 "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" 

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Na! he didn't see dat puddy cat! Many thanks Cherrie.

[Cherrie]

Nature's awe is beautiful and deadly, a inescapable truth. I liked the way you have displayed it.read moreNature's awe is beautiful and deadly, a inescapable truth. I liked the way you have displayed it.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Cherrie.

[barleygirl]

I used to be friendly with a naturalist who was so dead set against keeping cats in wilderness abodes . . . he quoted an astronomical claim about how many millions of birds are killed by cats each year! Living in the country, we get used to seeing death pretty casually, so I love how you give a teensy attempt to be mindful of passionate critter devotees & yet true to your sensibilities, too! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Margie. I have moved the tubes and the cat seems a lot more miserable lol!

[Moonie]

I think life always seems to find a way, it's both miraculous and gruesome. No matter how much we try, we cannot tame life's instincts out of an animal. Even considering human life, it is absolutely incredible how much we can go through, and still have the will to live. It's unbelievable how life always finds a way to thrive

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Yes I agree. Many thanks for reading.

[gram linski]

As a bit of a twitcher myself, I do like a good bird watch, if said cat is yours then put a bell on it, you're basically giving your cat a flying free menu every day, some nice poetic touches

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Sadly our cat had to be euthinised last year. She was past catching anything apart from cat flu! The cat is a neighbour's and having moved the feeders I think has done the trick. Thank you gram.

[Robert Trakofler]

well last year... (my local eagles nest has a live feed https://www.csecorporation.com/Pittsburgh-Hays-Bald-Eagle-Cam) The eagle caught a cat and fed it to his fledglings live on the stream you could imagine the outrage coming from those who viewed it:) That is nature at its ironical finest many of my customers mentioned this to me at my restaurant most of them are vegans cause they are animal lovers. I too am an animal lover but animals are animals and they do tend to eat each other I must of said this to them A hundred times.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

This is undoubtedly a world where everyone is fighting to stay alive. The strongest prevail, the weakest suffer the pain. Just like today's politics, where the rich prey on the poor with their mouths and hands full of blood.
This is my own point of view about this wonderful piece. I think nature sometimes gives the full description of the unseen realities that are going on around us.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed I think you are correct Kay and nature is often a mirror. Many thank yous.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh that Darwin...and the survival of the fittest..
I love Cats but hate that they kill birds...just instinct...and bird feeders are impossible to keep away from squirrels..
My cat is an inside cat...she can only look at them outside and wish.
j.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Our cat was an older female. I did post 'Mrs Pepper's Cats' based on true stories about her and her sister. Unfortunately one was killed by
a car and the other was very ill and had to be euthanised last year. By that time she had not hunted for some time. Many thanks Jacob.

[Chris Shaw]

I love cats John, but when they kill the birds in my garden, that is another matter. I know it's their natural instinct and all that, but it still ranckles. A vivid write about nature here. Free verse written exceptionally well. Your wife sounds like me. I refuse to clear up anything nasty. That's his job.

Chris

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Chris. Luckily it is not our cat so he takes his kill with him. It is possible it was a sparrowhawk which landed on the feeder pole yesterday evening. We see it quite frequently.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

PS you might enjoy my story 'Mrs Pepper's Cats' then as it is based on true tales about the adventures of my wife's felines. http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Passion8/2115098/

[kentuck14]

"Blood in tooth and claw" I believe it is said about a fallen world where nature, even in it's beauty wars against it's self. Sorry to hear about the magpie John. The "survival of the fittest?!" It would appear so!
Perhaps this why man turns against man?!!! We have been left with our corrupt natures to sow in the fields of God.
T

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I do understand the killing in the natural world, mostly. But man has little excuse if he is indeed a 'higher' being. We lost a Jay the other day which is even sadder as they are rare. Tonight we almost lost a bullfinch to a sparrowhawk, in itself a magnificent creature. Many, many thank yous Tom!

[kentuck14]

the British Jay is rare?! Its American cousin is plentiful . . . maybe they need to be planted in the isles?!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Can you send a breeding pair pleeeeese?