robin dreams of
catalpa canopies,
summer’s secret solace
© 2021 Michelle Kogan
Happy Poetry Friday!
I’m celebrating Earth Day with thoughts about how we can help our friend Robin. The counts of Robins are down in the cities, mainly due to cats roaming around outside and helping themselves to our fine feathered Robin friends. I found a couple articles on how we can help the Robins. This one is from Birds & Blooms and talks about “5 Ways to Create a Bird-Safe Backyard” and this one is from Journey North, on “Robin Ecology.”
ROBIN REDBREAST’S HOME
For Robin Redbreast’s
best conservation, begin
by keeping your kitty cat
tidily tucked inside.
Your curious kitty cats
ground hunting palate
pangs for parent Robins
and baby fledglings too.
Make kitty cats home
an inside purrfect palace,
and Robin’s home an outside
kitty cat safe-free zone.
© 2021 Michelle Kogan
Catherine Flynn at her blog Reading to the Core is our host for this week’s Poetry Friday roundup. For NPM Catherine has been writing poems from a wonderful book she’s been sharing, Kathryn Aalto’s WRITING WILD. I’m looking forward to the next author/poet she will share and write from.
Visit Susan Bruck’s Blog Soul Blossom Living for the NPM Kidlitosphere Roundup, and Margaret Simon’s blog Reflections on the Teche for a schedule of poets participating in the 2021 Progressive Poem.
Happy Poem Reading…
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting, & Writing 
What a perfectly painted robin…and a delightful post. That old poem…Little Robin Redbreast…oh, my one of my earliest remembered poems. I love how you write a poem in conversation with the old one. I will certainly keep my cat inside…possibly tidy…probably not.
Little Robin Redbreast – I remember that poem! Love the alliteration in your haiku.
I hear a couple of robins yet have not spotted them yet! There is a neighbor cat that roams the entire neighborhood, friendly to all, but I keep wondering how many birds he has taken? I know “Little Robin Redbreast” too, Michelle, and love your poem’s call for action! With your painting, a spring delight I hope does some good!
Thank you for the robin goodness, Michelle, and reminder to help keep them safe. Love your poems and beautiful watercolor. The song is one I hear often around here — a good sign!
Loved the robin song and the poems. Now what will I do about that cat I see, prowling in my yard?
I love your robin, and your advice! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
There are a lot of free-roaming cats where I live and I’ve had the misfortune to witness one hunting. How wonderful to use poetry to raise awareness on this topic!
Love your use of alliteration in your poem, Michelle! And especially the lines:
“keeping your kitty cat
tidily tucked inside”.
This is good advice for all kitty delicacy critters. Some kitties dine in / eat out regularly around my parts…and by the size of their bellies, it shows. And as always, love your artwork. 🙂
My parents just got a kitty cat that looks a LOT like the public domain one you’ve posted. 🙂 She’s an indoor cat through and through (has to be with only 3 legs), though she does like to swipe at the lizards climbing up the window from the outside. Even through glass, she’s pretty effective at showing them who’s boss!
Love your painting, your poem, and your PSA about keeping cats indoors so the birds stay safe!
This was such a fun little collection of robin compositions. The robin haiku was gorgeous. The way the words worked together just made the poem sing. Of course, who can’t appreciate your poem warning about our kitties. Interestingly, as I read your poem I realized I haven’t seen as many robins this year either. We don’t have a lot of cats around. Now I do wonder what this might be about. I’m going to have to pay a bit more attention to this.
I’m so sorry it took me more than a week to get around to all of last Friday’s posts! I love your robin theme! Your illustration is beautiful, and I’m so glad you wove in the PSA for robin safety. We no longer have cats, so our robins can search for worms without worry!