The Parrots Of Cologne Poem by Zack Holland

In Cologne from the Flora to Zülpicher Square
‘Mongst the traffic and concrete some parrots are there.
They escaped from the zoo
In 2002-
And now they are squawking with hardly a care;
They fill the air.

And they squawked in the aviaries, we are sure of that fact,
Though the sound that they made in the zoo was half-lacked
For they envied the finches
Hopping free ‘round the benches,
Whilst they looked in the cage for a part that was cracked
And inexact.

There were parts of the coop that were held just with glue
And with resolvéd beaks and their heads they pecked through
‘Till the wire broke apart,
So they all could depart
And they felt the warm air in their wings as they flew
Up into the blue.

That Summer was hotter than Spain at the peak of its heat
And the parrots enjoyed eating scraps that they found on the street.
They had found a new home
In the heart of Cologne
And the people put breadcrumbs and seeds at their feet
To hear them tweet.

But when early October arrived, the cold northern winds came
And the parrots felt personally threatened; warned, name for name.
They assigned to eat lots
Of bulk things from bulk pots
And they set out to win o’er the Winter’s cruel game
To turn them lame.

But the frost took its toll on those tropical birds and they cried;
By the fifth of December a third of the flock had died.
But they hardened to stay
And they lived to see May
And now I can see them a-squawking outside!
-With a certain pride.

And there seems to be more of them than ever before-
Just from here I would guess at a flock of three-score!
They are singing a-light
And the skies are green-bright!
And I know that next year I will see even more-
Of that I’m sure.