cherry blossom and pigeons

As promised, a photo of the beautiful cherry blossom trees that I have the pleasure of seeing on the walk from the train station to my university campus.

Something I also had the 'pleasure' of seeing on the way to uni was a rather unfortunate dead pigeon. I happened to be looking up as I was passing under the railway bridge - you see, if you don't look up, you run the risk of being 'splatted' by the pigeons sitting there, as they tend to use people for target practice - and there was a pigeon lying belly-up in the net under the bridge.

It inspired this poem:

'Ode to a pigeon'

Oh dear pigeon, so grey and white

If only you knew of your terrible plight.

Maybe it's wrong, or maybe it's right,

that you should have died there some time in the night.

How did it happen? Did you die of fright?

Or did you get caught up in somebody's kite?

Who would have thought that your final flight

would have ended sadly in this awful sight

Oh dear pigeon, grey and white

I hope that you flew towards the light.

(c) Ailsa Cunningham, 2007