robin, do go south!

red berries in your beak

you’ll find more, yes – this week

but soon you’ll feel the icy cold

no valour gained in being bold.

your favourite meal is always worms

fly to where the warm earth turns

them up, after a rain

now rime time nears – fly again

robin, do go south!

you’re all alone in the berried tree

except for starlings squawking – see –

you are perched in the wrong situation

how did you miss your autumn migration

you really have no other choice

that timid chirp is not your voice

white of snow and red of breast

such contrast just is not the best

not for your particular kind

who hops, the moistest lawns to find

Leave our frost, seek watery flow

Get thee gone, take flight, just go!

robin, do go south …..