Clade Song 15

American Robin  

Meeting the dogs, a fledgling charged,
her scold hopping toward goodbye.
Then another rushed departure, then
another, in the same erect stance. 
Few fledging robins survive—
25%.  Then half of these to adulthood.
Were it not for the dogs,
I might have painted the scene
as the smallest-ever parade,
titled it “Harbinger of Spring.”
Were it not for the neighbor
also in his yard, neither
would our screams have mattered.
“Harbinger”: One who goes ahead
to betray the coming of some other.
: Anything in foreshadow.
The rise & falling song of the robin
is a series. Cheer up, cheerily, cheer up.
May the venturesome plans
of the unrealized, the next would-be, 
carry through.
Birds of low concern, remember.
There was a loose bobbin wild-bouncing.
Here was a rout of dogs.