Haiku my Heart Friday

Pretty green parrot ~

White eye looks into your soul.

Her sharp beak draws blood.

Ah, Millie - she is a Maximillian Pionus parrot who is sweet sixteen - we've been together since she was 4, when her owner decided to give her up for a dog. Now, I had 2 dogs at the time and couldn't bear the thought of her going to a place she didn't know - or worse, a place she didn't survive.  So, she came to live with me and has done - well, whatever she wants for these past 12 years!

Millie came across country with me on the plane from California - a real trooper, surviving the "inquisitors" that made sure that her little travel cage didn't have explosives - you know, 911 and Code Orange and stuff.  We were separated when my Gypsy jewelry set off alarms and we went in two different directions:  she headed down the moving thingy and I had to be patted down by the security "agents."

Eventually, we were reunited, made the trip to Newark and have survived here since 2003.  She does well with Kylie, the border collie - in fact, she goes "walk about" when I fall asleep on the sofa after a couple of glasses of wine, bypassing Kylie and all obstacles in her way to explore whatever she wants.  One day, she decided to do this while I was doing dishes in the kitchen - when I felt "something" on my feet and let out a gasp, I'm sure she was cackling to herself about scaring her mom!

We've had a tempestuous relationship, but I think it's getting better - we're both older and a bit wiser. Or more tolerant.

Squawk!

For more Haiku my Heart, please visit Rebecca here. You won't be disappointed!

Here in this house...

Here in this house......

I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs 'out there'.
I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed.
I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I'll eat.
I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat.
I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness,
and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose.
My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.

Here in this house...
There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level.
I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand,
I can enjoy the warmth of the words.
I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many.
My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!

Here in this house...
I will never be a substitute for anything I am not.
I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves.
I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be.

I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or stupidity.
I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all.
If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.

Here in this house...
I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch...
knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me.
If I am ill, I will be doctored.
If scared, I will be calmed.
If sad, I will be cheered.
No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value.
I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough.

My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought.
I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.

Here in this house...
I will belong.
I will be home.

(author unknown)

 

Same goes for Millie!

I took this poem from someone's Flickr site; since the author is "unknown," I felt it was alright to post it.

Observing Sleeping Beauty

Here's Millie watching Kylie take a nap around dinner time yesterday. It was cute to see her just watching Kylie.

And here's a close up of Millie without her trying to kill the camera or me!

Click on images to enlarge them.

Introducing Millie

Heeeeeeeeeere's Millie!

She hates the camera and wanted to kill it - and me, too!

Millie is a 15 year old Maximillian Pionus parrot whom I've had since she was 4. She belonged to a reclusive neighbor who no longer wanted her as he decided to get a dog instead. So, Millie came to stay with me.

Our relationship in the beginning was quite tumultuous. She was quick to bite and in doing so, drew blood on numerous occasions. When she realized that she was staying put with me, she calmed down a bit. She still has her moments, though, when she gets into a real snit for no reason that I know of and will lunge quickly at my arm or hand. She then goes into lockdown for a few hours to calm down - she is normally out of the cage during the day, staying on her perch or on the gate in front of her cage keeping track of what is going on inside and outside of the house. She does consider herself the Queen.

Millie traveled across country with me on the plane when I moved back East. That was an adventure - the security people actually made me open her cage, I guess to check for plastic explosives or some such nonsense and she flapped out of the cage in her fright. Thankfully, I had her wings clipped before we left, so she landed on the floor rather than swooping around the airport. However, that wasn't the end of our airport adventure. My gypsy jewelry set off the alarms leaving Millie to ride down a conveyor belt on her own to wait for me. After the security person determined that I was not an international terrorist with parrot accomplice, we were reunited. She stayed in my lap in her travel cage during the trip, but had to be put under the seat during take off and landing. That seating arrangement for her cost $80. When we all make our way back West, we're doing it in the car!