Hummers Are Coming Poem by Donal Mahoney

I will no longer feed the birds
on the front porch as I do daily
autumn through winter when
I go out at dawn to get the paper
on the lawn and spread seed on
the railing in a serpentine feast.

As soon as I start spreading seed
the birds in the trees chortle
but that ends now because spring
is here and my wife is putting up
red feeders for the hummers
who will arrive any day to dance
a ballet on the porch all summer.

Seedeaters don't mix with hummers.
They mean no harm but they're
blue-collar birds not into ballet.
They're gobble their food like men
in overalls in a bar for lunch
eating cheeseburgers in a rush.

Hummers don't dance for grackles
and starlings devouring their seed.
So I will announce the change today
to all the birds chortling in the trees.
No more seed on the porch till autumn.
See our backyard buffet until then.