Birder

Behold the ortelan!
Caged and blinded from hatchling days
Force fed until your shit is haute cuisine.
Finally, mercifully, drowned in Armagnac
and served to the elite beneath their cap of shame.
Eaten from feet to beak.

You are no eagle, no hawk, no falcon.
At best, you may rise to the status of finches.
Be fast and sharp, like hummingbirds;
Be loud and black and proud like crows.
Be as persistent as woodpecker and
flock together for protection like sparrows.
Be as bright as cardinals and sing like nightingales.

For the birders are on the hunt
for the next innocent bird.