“On How to Woo a Finch” by Sharon McInnes

 

Let’s get this straight: it’s not your size or sparkling eyes that interest me.
What rattles my feathers, what makes me bill
Is just the right colour and just the right song.
I’m looking for RED, a head as red as red as can be
And a song – a song that’s big and loud and long
Longer than those other guys

And maybe try that butterfly dive some of your fellow finches do
Fly way up high above the trees
Then glide my way your throat on fire
With gorgeous tones that tease and please: now that might do the trick.

Maybe then I’ll let you gently poke my bill
Maybe then I’ll bow and droop my wings
And flutter like a sweet young thing, all timid and submissive
And let you feed me seeds and knotwood, thistle, fruit.
Maybe then we’ll plan to make some baby birds
In April, when the daffodils are out

 

Sharon McInnes is an award-winning short story writer who lives on Vancouver Island. In 2012 she published Up Close & Personal: Confessions of a Backyard Birder, a compilation of 29 of her birding columns. In 2018 she published her debut novel, Across a Narrow Strait (available here). She is currently writing a memoir about the two years she spent taking care of her mom, who had dementia and lived with Sharon and her husband. Her website is sharonmcinnes.com

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