the pigeon didn’t
land with a flutter
of wings and graceful
hop on little stick legs
but with a solid thud
and i was taken aback
at first thinking
it to be a turkey
so porcine was the bird
there seemed to be
a double chin in
viridescent green
circling its throat
it waddled as if it
were in charge of the
strip of sidewalk
just outside the coffee shop
where the scraps dropped
by busy executives
have led to its moribund
state of obesity

it was bad enough
when the people got fat
then their dogs and cats
but now we have trained
the rats with wings
to gorge themselves as well
i guess it is instinct
to demand more than
our fair share even as
others starve around us
corpulent pigeons filled
with mindless meaningless need