“Biscotti crumbs, please,”
Sparrow said to me, cocking
her head with beady-pleading eyes,
as I drank my latte
at a sidewalk café.

I said, “Why sure, there’s
plenty to share, and biscotti
can’t be eaten without crumb-seeding.”

I sipped my latte as she pecked away,
eyeballing the hand holding
my biscotti from Starbuck’s café,
from a Starbuck’s café put in my way.

Filling her beak, she flew to a tree,
then back, again, silently pleading.
“Biscotti crumbs, please,” she
twittered to me, “my babies are hungry,
and vanilla almond is their favorite
of all the biscotti.”

“You know what?” I feigned,
“I’m full, anyway, here’s all the rest,
I’ll just sit here and watch
as you gather what’s tossed,
sipping my latte. Feed your babies,
today, this biscotti is yours
for the taking.”

“Biscotti crumbs, thank you,”
Sparrow chirped to me,
as I finished my latte
at a café in LA.

Erin Elizabeth Kelly-Moen
© Copyright 8/2/05