A few years ago, on a hot day....
Stood in the hot sun at noon today
watering the phoebe babies,
and rinsing the outside canoe-bottom.
Phoebes are not a flowering plant.
Phoebes are an insect-eating bird. A flycatcher.
Each year they build a nest under my deck
and each year I try to get them to build
on the nice flat, sheltered board
carefully placed for them.
But no.
Last year they built on top of the coiled garden hose.
This year, the nest is inside the canoe,
below (above?) a thwart,
right up against the canoe's sunny-side.
Such a hot day today, so sunny, so hot.
I checked on the nestlings. They were panting.
Birds don't pant.
So I turned on the hose and played cold water
over the hull of the canoe,
cooling the canoe and the surrounding air
while not wetting the underside
where the babies considered the advice of the parent
who stood nearby calling out instructions.
Warm work, but somebody's gotta do it.
