新年伊始，朋友去年夏天送的一對“愛情鳥”得五個羽毛未豐的小鳥。

昨夜有幸觀賞他們，重新發現愛的偉大。鳥媽媽細心的用嘴撕開一小條接一小條的紙片，按次序夾在尾巴上的羽毛之間，又運到邊上的小木屋中，為雛鳥鋪床。鳥爸爸在一旁有些無聊，吃吃鳥食，撥弄鳥籠的門玩玩。

今天老父親要擴建更大的鳥屋。

上周為五胞胎小鳥寫英文習作詩一首，轉登在此。

While I was watching Ospreys,

You hatched out of the eggshells

And saw a world far larger,

A world measured not by your size,

But stretching over ten billion light-years.

Welcome, April.

Welcome, May.

Welcome, June.

Welcome, Julia.

Welcome, Augustine.

I have wanted to get a good look at you.

But whenever I inch closer to the cage,

Your dad and mom would jump back

And block the door to the attached wooden house.

Even their favorite Shanghai green we tossed in

Would not dull their sense of vigilance.

That kind of loving care

Puts me to fresh shame,

Spurs me to emulate, and

Compels me to admire.

What a lucky bunch you are!

You would have been born somewhere else,

If not for John and Katie and their friend.

They could not stand the mess and noise

That your parents were making.

We accepted them with a tapering joy.

But your coming changed all that.

I am all the more anxious

To see your wearing fledgling feathers,

To hear your tuning your love songs, and

To play wild catch in my house with you all.

(Composed on Jan. 9, 2002)