Typewriter Rodeo: Grackles Be Stealin’

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By David FruchterApril 20, 2018 2:18 pm,

It’s nice to share a neighborhood with birds, as long as you don’t have to share your snacks.

Grackles Be Stealin’

i’m just settling in
on some sweet patio
my bowl of salsa
and basket of chips
at the ready

when i hear it
that raucous, clacking cry
as the evil black bird
perches somewhere nearby

i hunch over my goods
eyes darting left and right
where are they
how can i keep
my treasures safe

golden and crispy
waiting for my crunch
and then
i look up
and in that one moment
a particularly brave specimen

steals his chance
swoops
and is away
my chip in its beak
and my soul
on its wing…

Produced by Laura Rice.