Pileated Woodpecker
Upstate South Carolina
The Woodpecker Keeps Returning
By Jane Hirshfield
The woodpecker keeps returning
to drill the house wall.
Put a pie plate over one place, he chooses another.
There is nothing good to eat there:
he has found in the house
a resonant billboard to post his intentions,
his voluble strength as provider.
But where is the female he drums for? Where?
I ask this, who am myself the ruined siding,
the handsome red-capped bird, the missing mate.
I've never known whether to pity the male who feels compelled to bash his head against a tree to attract a female, or the female who finds such an individual attractive.
ReplyDeleteYes, I quite agree, John, and would note that your sentiment applies equally to our own species.
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