The courtroom was jam-packed. Birds of a feather flocked together with birds of different feathers.
The plaintiff, Mr Raven, perched with his chest inflated. The defendant, Ms Cuckoo sat upright on the opposite branch.
The judge swooped in and the trial commenced.
“As all rise to greet,
Let me yet again repeat,
I am Justice Eagle, grey and bald,
Beware, for the truth can scald.”
The prosecutor attorney, Mr Macaw sauntered on the bough.
“My Lord! My client, Mr Raven,
Pleads to reclaim his safe haven,
That cuckoos for three generations seized,
From Grandma Crow, now deceased.”
The defence lawyer, Mrs Owl, snoozed in daylight, giving two hoots about court decorum. So Ms Cuckoo took matters in her claws.
“My Lord! It is true, Grandma Cuckoo slipped in
Two of her eggs, now my deceased kin,
Never pushing out the host’s eggs, as was the trend those days,
She was an avian of morals, she had her own ways.”
Mr Macaw slapped his crimson tail in disapproval.
“Objection over-ruled,” declared the Judge, flicking his talon.
“Turned out ol’ Ma Crow, was weak at math,
She counted seven as five each day, while giving them a bath!
And so the birdies grew, cawing and cooing along,
And their eggs hatched too, and joined in their song.”
“The defence is trying to distract the court, My Lord!” Mr Macaw’s thundering beak showered saliva over the audience.
The eagle tapped his talon like a gavel.
“A tattoo on his nape, a piercing on his chest,
The papers here say, Mr Raven was under arrest.
A felon such as him, is bound to raise eyebrows,
Was he not part, of a murder of crows?”
Advocate Owl struck like a genius between bouts of slumber.
While the audience cackled in assent, the judge announced a short break.
Mr Macaw tiptoed toward the defence party.
“These legal proceedings can be pretty long-drawn. Here’s my deal. Return the ancestral nest to my client in exchange for one in a new housing colony. You know how difficult it is to find accommodation for single ladies like you.”
“We’ll sleep over your offer!” Mrs Owl countered.
The court assembled again, as the parrot returned to his bough, sniggering.
“Your Honour, justice is overdue,
How was the nest bequeathed to imposters? I argue,
For in her last days Grandma Crow had gone, umm, cuckoo.”
Advocate Owl now perched higher as she summed her stance.
“Your Honour, may I draw your attention,
Grandma Crow lived bereft of pension,
Ms Cuckoo’s parents nursed her till the end,
For she had none of her kin to depend.”
There was a silent pause, while Justice Eagle scratched his judgement on a wall.
“May each inherit half a nest, equally divide,
And lay eggs, side by side,
May your off-springs be brothers, as were at the start,
The law of birds, unlike humans’, is law with a heart.
Nest is a possession; home is how you feel,
Not wounding each other, but together, heal.”
_______________________________
Authors note:
Cuckoos are generally parasites when it comes to nesting. A crow generally lays eggs in brood of five.
The female cuckoo lays eggs, also upto five at a time, in the crow nest, generally pushing out the
host’s eggs for fear of being detected. The crow often goes about nurturing the hatched cuckoo
offspring as its own.
_______________________________
Connect with Penmancy:
________________________________
Penmancy gets a small share of every purchase you make through these links, and every little helps us continue bringing you the reads you love!
- How Santa got his Happily Ever After - 28 Dec 2023
- Bridges - 9 Jul 2023
- Loyalty - 22 Jun 2023