Blue Sky Thinking Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Blue Sky Thinking
Which parakeet first decided to live in London?
What blue sky thinking pointed him towards Hyde Park?

Parakeets are not native to the UK
His natural home is Africa,
Or the Indian subcontinent.

Now he's a naturalised Londoner
He's settled unchallenged by immigration control
Our climate grows warmer, more welcoming

In Israel, his tribe decimate crops
Like plagues of locusts
In London, they compete with indigenous birds
For food and nest sites.

They squawk like fishwives
Not an ounce of music in them
All flash and grab
Year on year they multiply like mice
Nibbling away at the fabric
Of our eco systems, bigots tell us

Our parakeet settler is young: he will live for 30years
Knocking competitors off the feeding perch
He's got what it takes, by taking, a birdie Mafioso
This is the law of the jungle,
The law of Darwin