How dare you call me a rat with wings,
an attitude that truly stings.
I’ve never done you a jot of harm,
yet you ignore my every charm.

A male, I’ve a bib that does me proud.
It puts me at the top of the crowd.
Gets me the choicest feeding grounds
and females, striped with buffs and browns.

My kind’s the commonest bird you’ll hear
or see. We love to live quite near
your homes. We like to build our nests
on eaves, in holes in walls. But pests?

Not me! Won’t sneak inside your attic,
although my flights are acrobatic.
I will not burglarize your house,
so, please, stop calling me a louse.

I munch on tasty seeds and bread
and sleep up high in a featherbed.
Applaud me, please, for cleaning your crops
of bugs for my chicks on your deck roof tops.

Were I some rare blue-throated macaw,
you’d think of me with thanks and awe.
But, like the sky through which I fly —
and you ignore — I hope you’ll try

to value me and the air you use.
What you value is yours to choose.

*
(Appeared in Lighten Up Online.)