she ***** her black eye
peering through the gate

"i see you," she tweets,
greets with a sideways blink

one, two, three hop
up, down, then to me

companions peck and feast,
pitter-patter on the wire

holding up her wooden seat
where gossiping talons reside

my brown eyes connect
to the beady left of her skull

imagining the lush landscapes
her ancestors once flew through

who felt the wind and warmth
and knew of seasonal change

intruding hands take her away
for a new gate to look through