Roadrunner (Chaparral Cock) in Sabino Canyon, October 27, 2011 — Image by kenne
Born to run
Flying short distances only
Named for speed
Designed for racing
Laughed at by many
A coyote’s nemesis
Roadrunner by name
SafeSearch off
Chaparral Cock the same
SafeSearch strict
In the tree of life
A five-minute “silent witness”
kenne
The Sonoran Desert Roadrunner — Image by kenne
The Sonoran Roadrunner
Playing chicken
With a roadrunner means,
You lose –
Beep! Beep!
Or do you?
His game is one of,
“For me to know and
You to find out.”
There he was
Ahead down the path,
The large cuckoo
With zygodactyls’ feet
Running fast
Sporting an occasional
Side-to-side movement.
I could see his eyes,
The blue and orange patch.
Then,
A pause,
As if to check
My next move.
Seeing none,
As I continued
Shooting images,
He kept streaking at me,
Seemingly unbothered
By the clicking camera.
Raising and lowering
His erected shaggy crest,
While flipping his tail.
Was he trying to frighten me?
Or, was he courting me –
This human
With one big eye?
The ugly duckling
Of the cuckoo family
Stopped at my feet,
Gazing up,
As if to say,
Fuck you –
Only to swiftly run on.
I looked up,
Rather than back,
But there was no boulder.
Conclusion:
That bird is one crazy clown.
Beep! Beep!
— kenne
