The Bearded Vulture pictured above is a water color that my grandson, Andrew Jordan Thompson painted.  He enjoys painting different animals, and I enjoy giving them a voice.  

A Bearded Vulture Narrative 

Hel-lo.
Whoa!  That sounded way too much
like this scrawny parrot named Tango I met
when I was caged up in a zoo years ago.
My, oh my. Was I ever glad to get away
from that motor mouth. Tawk. Tawk. Tawk.
Kept callin' me Polly and askin' if I wanted a cracker.
Never saw anything like it before or since.
Let's see. Lemme collect my thoughts.
My name's Birdie...Birdie, the Bearded Vulture.
Yep, I've got a beard. In fact, I was once asked
to stand in for the bearded lady at the circus.
But I told 'em, "Nothin' doin', cuz I don't like
the food you feed your workers."  I also told
the circus boss he wasn't willin' to supply
the iron oxide I need, which is part of my nature.
Lemme explain so's not to confuse anyone.
I simply must have iron oxide dust to wallow in.
It makes my feathers red and gives me
an even more ferocious look than I already have.
I usually sneak off and get myself all dolled up
in private, without anyone knowin' a thing about it.
And nobody would have known anything this time
if it hadn't been for that peeping Tom Turkey.
You see, I was wallowing there all alone in the shade,
using my talons to rake the red dust
through my feathers, when that turkey sneaks
up and catches me red-taloned and up
to my bottom in this iron oxide.
I was madder than an ol' settin' hen
and was all set to scratch the eyes
right out of that bumpy little red head of his.
Well, he gets sorta scared and tells me
if I won't hurt him, he'll show me where
there's an old dead sheep's carcass that's been
lyin' out in the heat o' the sun for days.
That ol' turkey knows I don't care nothin'
about the flesh from that carcass. No siree.
The thing I want most is to carry the big bones
from that sheep up to a high altitude,
then drop 'em on some rocky spot so's to
break 'em in pieces, splattering
the marrow that's inside all over the place,
and then I gobble it all up—bones, marrow, and all.
Yep, that's what I like more'n anything.

          ******************************

Come over sometime, and we'll sit a spell.
I have a few more of these tales to tell.
There's not a better way to improve your culture
Than listening to tales about a bearded vulture.

©Copyright 2016 By David Lee Thompson