Kohlmeisen rummaging the one patch
of bare earth, pigeons hunched
indecisive in the naked trees
a falcon on a tour of inspection
several crows – professional protesters –
rasping their voices and a green
outlandishness of parrots
from the Schlosspark that alight
like antipodean Christmas candles
on the leafless walnut.

In the very depth of winter
an SMS that our brave old cat –
blind yet capable still
of climbing the roof – is dying.
As a kitten he’d fall over my feet
older he’d offer dead rats but not birds
he was inexplicably frightened of the fridge
but king of the block at midnight –

goodbye old friend
dying in your Australian heatwave
while here the birds go about their tasks
and it’s fourteen degrees below zero.