Tuesday Slice: Seed on the path

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up."

--Matthew13: 3-4

A bitterly cold

and icy day

prompting schools to close

I spend much 

of the morning staring

out my back window

at the birds

quickly devouring

a feeder full of seed

They need more, I think.

I fill up the seed container

put on my coat and

trudge outside

'round the house to

the backyard

frozen grass crunching underfoot

Pour seed into the feeder that

hangs where a swing once swayed

toss peanuts and corn on the

end of the green plastic slide, now 

covered in a frosty glaze

Heading back 'round to the

front of the house, I spy a

swallow, or is it a wren, hopping on

the roof

So I pour a bit of seed on

the path to the door, thinking

the bird will see, call its friends, and

fill their little bellies

But it's been hours now, and

I look through my peephole, finding

the seed still there, as

freezing rain lightly falls

I call my husband at his work to

warn him of the icy rain, and

tell him not to crush the

seed underfoot on

his way to the door.