marlene mountain
one-line haiku sequence
april 6 1995

sexhist sighence

an unrose-

an unrose-breasted grosbeak on her newly-nested eggs
eastern kingbird courts an eastern queenbird
male vermilion flycatcher on the fly to catch vermilion flies
the rubylessness of a throated hummingbird
a non-catholic draped cardinal's pink orange red bill
she-pheasant: i wringed his neck


indigo

indigo bunting male: bam bam thank you ma'am how was i
non-indigo female: at least you have cute buns
summer tanager (male of course) rose-red all year [oh]
scarlet tanager (ditto) never in winter
ah a pair of eastern rusty red breasts oops eastern bluebirds
rtp: female duller than the male -- mm: not as gaudy


painted

painted bunting male: see my picture in peterson's book
he poses you drab shes behind us hes
very plain greenish above paling to lemon-green below:
bright colors dearie don't make the bird
look that american goldfinch can't hang on to his gold
& guess who isn't a yellow-headed blackbird


a bird vultures

a bird vultures down to pick-et sigh"ntest name callers
audubon shot stuffed painted by objective birds
peterson sexes alike in blue jays (does he mean coloration)
jay herself: but not my she bird brain
female birder to male birder oh that's just the female
birds and birdettes

notes
italicized words from 'a field guide to the birds east of the rockies' roger tory
peterson, houghton mifflin, boston 1980
line 14) besides, wing bars and other details are often hidden
22) perhaps, as with female humans, she jay claims a more integrated brain
23) heard on roan mountain - to state the obvious 'sexhist sighence' in
many fields has done considerable damage to the female spirit

Frogpond 19:1 1996