The Lone Blue Jay

A single blue jay squawks
at our bird feeder.
Without understanding avian messaging
I decide he wants the seed for himself.
Jays bully sparrows and wrens.
They are known as beautiful, but ornery.

Then again. The toothless girl
begging at the corner.
Does she have meth mouth?
Or did she grow up with sugary
Mountain Dew in her baby bottle?
The woman with the sour face
in the checkout line.
Is she innately angry?
Or did she just find out
her husband is having an affair?
The man who swerves
across the center line.
Is he drunk, or, did a disruptive
child distract him?

As the jay flies away I notice
our feeder is empty.
I forget entitlement lectures
and fill a pitcher with sunflower seeds.