Creature Critic.

I do so enjoy birds,

so marvel at the notion of them,

at their magical gift of flight.

They so animate my garden,

so add to the theatre

beyond my kitchen window.

They can, dare I say, create,

along with the flowers,

that touch of paradise.

And butterflies!

In these, too, I delight,

in their colour and grace.

And even bumblebees,

happily humming,

round and furry.

But I do not welcome wasps,

fierce and bothersome,

and certainly not flies.

A curse on all flies,

on mosquitoes and midges

and all their pestilential kind,

but, above all, on bluebottles.

I've seen where they have been.

No, I do not applaud all flying creatures.

Some I bless, would celebrate:

others I detest, would exterminate.