Summer Rental

Another backyard pastoral. Last year we had chickadees nest successfully in a bluebird box.
This year I hung a wren house for them, which they tried for a time but abandoned. Actually sounded for one week like they were trying to remodel.

Summer Rental

I, the Carpenter, built it on spec,
  Of these pieces left by, from an old treehouse deck,
I next cut these boards for a diamond box
  With a coping saw that, once jigged old cuckoo clocks,
I drilled this hole center, so that they could get in,
  Sized 1 & 1/8^th" for a Carolina Wren,
I sized it that small to fit in just the good,
  We don’t want ‘those’ birds here, in our neighborhood,
The peaked roof I added, ‘gainst the sun and the rain,
  And hung it, by this, chain link hardware store chain,
In hopes of attracting upstanding chickadees
  Onto the property, and ‘round our oak tree,
Then thinking I surely could never go wrong,
   I let it to rent, for a cheap and sweet song,

And next morning, they called, and sans appoint-a-mont!,
  A chickadee pair, out upon a Spring jaunt,
Straight around it and in, they both peeped and they soared,
  Never once asking me if I’d give them a tour
But right off the bat she wasn’t happy;

• "Where in the refrigerator is the holder for our eggs?"
• "Isn’t there a separate nursery for our chicks?"
• "You mean, there’s only one bird bath?"
• "Cold water only?"
• "Which we have to share?"
• "…Really?"

(And although not allergic, she said next, quite acerbic)

• "No! I do NOT like your cat!"

Then next could be heard lots of scratching and pecking,
  Loud ominous sounds of deliberate home wrecking, 
   (And without yet even giving me a security deposit!)
Also he helped her, bringing dried grass and sticks,
   I suppose for some bird ad hoc furnishing tricks,
And he tried to make it work, hard to make it work,
   It just seems, in the end, that she had other plans…
So… Yes,
  The Summer Birdhouse, it is still free to let,
    The Chickadees haven’t come back, as of yet…