Out of the cloudy skies you burst onto our feeders.

We were thrilled.

You told your cousins.

We bought more feeders and more food.

You brought your second-cousins and ate. And ate.

We watched. And watched.

Your differences amazed us.

Your differences frustrated us.

Hoary? Common? 

Hoary! Hoary?

Definitely maybe a Hoary.

Your enemy followed you here. Pursued you. Got you.

We watched. Amazed. Neutral.

You made our trees sway with movement and POP with color.

We could stand another day of winter.

But you ate. And ate. And ate.

We were going broke. Broke. Broke.

You reminded us of winter’s icy, lingering grip.

We loathed you. We cut off your food. Time for you to head north.

You stayed for a time. You left.

Ahhh.

A mid-March blizzard brought you back.  In droves. Hungry.

But you brought a fellow countryman this time. A lifer.

The blizzard wasn’t so bad anymore – for us.

You endured the wind. The snow. The cold.

We felt sorry for you. Our food was gone.

The storm died. We caved. We bought you food.

Fill up for the flight home.  You really need to go now.

It’s not you. It’s us.

Come again, just not so soon.

No more Minnesota good-byes.

Farewell Canadian friends.