LI
The Blue Jay
No brigadier throughout the yearSo civic as the jay.A neighbor and a warrior too,With shrill felicity
Pursuing winds that censure usA February day,The brother of the universeWas never blown away.
The snow and he are intimate;I ‘ve often seen them playWhen heaven looked upon us allWith such severity,
I felt apology were dueTo an insulted sky,Whose pompous frown was nutrimentTo their temerity.
The pillow of this daring headIs pungent evergreens;His larder—terse and militant—Unknown, refreshing things;
His character a tonic,His future a dispute;Unfair an immortalityThat leaves this neighbor out.