by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

“A pet owner who lost one of her cockatiels is carrying around its mate
in a transparent backpack in an effort to lure the absent avian home.”
—BBC News

“Why didn’t you say au revoir before
Hightailing it and leaving me to pine?
You didn’t even tweet me—though you swore,
Devotedly, you’d be forever mine.
I‘m made to look a proper turkey now,
Displayed inside a cage as Emma walks,
Not able to disguise my furrowed brow
To hide its grief—instead, all Yorkshire gawks.”

“You lovesick feather-brain, you should have flown
Off too. Forget old Emma, who just ties
Us down, and flee—she won’t be on her own,
She’ll buy new cockatiels to patronize.
And think before you chicken out again,
You—faint-heart cock has never won fair hen!”