The Cockatiel

The baby was due, Rocky didn't get same attention,   
a bit like sexual favours after a birth condition,
such a shame when food allowance diminished,
if you don't have enough diet, then you're finished.

He tried to tell us but it was all to no avail,
apart from speaking he tried to give a wail,
clinging to the cage bars, giving us a look,
we were too busy looking at the maternity book.

The time had come, both away at the hospital,
thought that he'd be okay at the end of it all,
but he wasn't, we'd forgotten he hadn't been fed,
it was disgraceful coming home to find him dead.

We were guilty and sad, no excuse for this calamity,
I brushed away some tears when I placed him in the sea.

Note: we lived in Cape Town at the time.