Two Grackles

I found myself watching two grackles
in the back parking lot
pecking at a vomit stain
they would take turns stopping 
and staring back
at me with mistrust
one grackle looked desperate
the other looked bored
the desperate one scraped his beak
impatiently against the asphalt
the bored one pecked softly at one spot
after another, as if to say:
One ought not expect too much,
but one never knows if perhaps
there is something worth tasting
in this slightly fuzzy pink stain
before it disappears into the sun…
the bored bird glared at me the hardest
I tried to smile back
to tell him I agree when
some burping diesel engine
scared both birds away

Jacob Friesenhahn teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.