(or, Veery and Vole and the Vinegar Fly)

Veery and Vole and the Vinegar Fly
Decided to go to the top of the sky.

But Vole couldn’t fly, though of course he would try;
“Do not think us unkind,” Veery said with a sigh,
“We must leave you behind!” And they bade him Good-bye.

And then Vinegar Fly – though of course he could fly –
Couldn’t fly very fast; couldn’t fly very high.
He grew weary, and cried out to Veery, “Please try
To go slower, and lower!” But Veery said, “I
Am a high-flying bird, and I cannot comply!”

And so Veery went on all alone — which is why
Veery and Vole and the Vinegar Fly

Do not get along.
And that is my song.

Image: this image is a collage (which I have processed to extremes, using free image processing program GIMP) of the following Creative Commons licensed images:

Sunset at Zadar by Flickr user Ignacio García : license Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0); Drosophila immigrans by Flickr user John Tann : license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0); Veery by Flickr user Christopher Eliot : license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0); Water Vole on Ice by Flicker user Crackers93 : license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0); Allée des Baobabs near Morondava, Madagascar by Flickr user Frank Vassen : license Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).