Hallelujah 
For silver-lighted leaves 
Of evergreen nandina 
In my neighbor’s backyard

Hallelujah 
For noisy silence of bossy cardinals
Like princes of the church
Trying – always – to claim exclusive ownership
Of the bird feeder outside our bedroom window

(Natural born patriarchs
With no discernible wisdom
But lots of self-assured hallelujahs)

Hallelujah for me
Though I be but a plain brown sparrow
Yet I continue to claim my equal right
To the feeder
Singing hallelujah 
For 77 years of perching
Feeding
Returning
Sharing 
Swaying bird feeders
Suspended from squirrel-proof poles