新年伊始，朋友去年夏天送的一对“爱情鸟”得五个羽毛未丰的小鸟。

昨夜有幸观赏他们，重新发现爱的伟大。鸟妈妈细心的用嘴撕开一小条接一小条的纸片，按次序夹在尾巴上的羽毛之间，又运到边上的小木屋中，为雏鸟铺床。鸟爸爸在一旁有些无聊，吃吃鸟食，拨弄鸟笼的门玩玩。

今天老父亲要扩建更大的鸟屋。

上周为五胞胎小鸟写英文习作诗一首，转登在此。

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)