I see four mourning doves every day

Serene and mild-mannered

As they pigeonwalk in the yard

Gray plump

tiny heads bobbing.

They graze under the feeder outside the kitchen window

Deaf to the sparrows and cardinals that swoop overhead and

Knock birdseed onto the ground in their feeding fury.

The doves peck and peck

In their slow meandering way

Under showers of manna