Avian Immigration
Jan Seale
February 1, 2026
Other birds flit above us by twos and threes.
They are happy, heading for a local park or lake.
The red-crowned parrots notify us ahead of time.
They have a mission, as well as a tight schedule.
All day they will eat berries from an anaqua tree
in a Valley yard. They will spend the night in the USA.
Come dawn, they have their instructions:
Blitz through the border station. Head south.
Do not ask permission. No papers or luggage.
Wear only your red crown, your brilliant green feathers.
Traveling in dozens, preferably in V’s, gossip all the way.
Remember to squawk: “Keek bereck keek keek.”
Jan Seale lives in deep South Texas. She has authored nine poetry volumes as well as books in fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature. She is the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate.
