Bird Watching at the Coast of La Jolla

By
Derek Updegraff
– May 1, 2008

The land­scape can’t be beat. The coast­line boasts
the most attrac­tive beaches in the west,
whose waters I grew up in and where hosts
of pel­i­cans and cor­morants would rest,
their fish-filled stom­achs work­ing to digest.
But now a more vora­cious avis stays
affixed to cliffs and shores where it pur­sues.
The coast is over­run with popin­jays
who perch and brood in nests with ocean views,
all feath­ered by their BMWs.

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About Derek Updegraff

Derek Upde­graff is a PhD can­di­date and instruc­tor of Eng­lish at the Uni­ver­sity of Mis­souri. His work has appeared or is forth­com­ing in The New For­mal­ist, Iambs & Trochees, The Chi­ron Review, Blue Uni­corn, des­cant, The Deronda Review, The Clas­si­cal Out­look, The Rain­town Review, Ezra, and other lit­er­ary journals.