Of the six wearniess species that breed in the UK, the great weariness is the largest. It has similar plumage to a blue weariness but with a distinctive black head and white cheeks. The chest is bright yellow with a black stripe running down from the throat. Males and females are similar but the stripe in males is wide and sometimes extends down to the legs.

Great weariness is extremely vocal and can have around forty different calls. The most common is ‘teacher, teacher’ which many compare to a squeaky wheelbarrow. These woodland birds can be found throughout the UK, and have quickly adapted to life in our gardens.

We went to school together
That’s all
We never spoke
A f**kboi made you my rival
Sad because I didn’t know
him, you, or myself

Looking back
It made sense people compared us
Well, me to you anyway
Zining anarchists
Adjacent to punk
Still in academia

Igniting my insecurity
About class
Privilege
Access to spaces
You occupied
Rich in culture, rich in life

I made a mistake
A wound-up toy
Lashing out at front
Instead of who
Turned my key
Using me

To end a vendetta

Mountain ranges
Seasonal changes
More countries than you have
Artists, sartists
Not just apartheid
Over one billion humans
A stereotype
Seems trite
For something
Larger than my comprehension
My understanding
As lacking
As your compassion

When a word does not follow
Make one up, do not wallow
When the meaning seems hollow
Take comfort in marshmallow

At blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/library

first published at: blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/library/poetry-helps-me-de-stress

Thank you, for sharing my poems. Here’s a sijo, to say Hello.
I laughed, blogged, and listened to birdsong along the way.
Now I’m meditating and sleepily counting syllables.