This is a poem taken from my collection The Black Widow, which is dark poetry and true crime based on domestic abuse and injustice. I was inspired to write it after the rise in domestic violence during Lockdown in people's homes, behind closed doors and drawn curtains. I am a home-bird myself and know how much humans and animals need a safe place to call home.

The swan’s nest of sticks –
Grebe’s floating platform –
Egret’s roost high on a ledge.
The wren’s soft lined cup –
Leaves, grass, mould
An entrance facing away
From cold winds.
The kingfisher’s narrow secret tunnel
The bald eagle’s durable playpen
Lined with feathers
Plucked from their breast.
The binding and waterproofing
from spiderwebs and lichens,
mud, saliva, caterpillar silk.
Structures of beauty
Ingenuity
Sacrifice

Safety.