Magpie Tales 111: Grandma Tried To Warn Me

empty nest 

never could wrap my head around 

tree hugging,  those activist glory days

so dope-fueled with ideals;  the Long-hairs

and their Chickie-LaLa's singing songs of whales,

saving snail darters,  and sleeping under the trees. 

my grandmother warned me about mite bites, 

those birdie bed bugs that parasitize man and fowl: 

"throw that damn nest away, boy, before you 

get eaten alive!" 

Poem © 2012  R. Burnett Baker 
Photo by Robert ParkeHarrison, shared by Tess Kincaid