It’s slow at the bar, so you get another poem. This is from that same early-2000s period that poems like “Muted, Yet Splashing” and “Concert of the Night” are from. Hope you enjoy it. I am now the second bird.
A Matter of Character
Spring springs, as the open window allows the sound
Of blackbirds foraging in the backyard leaves,
For worms an other slithering treats.
Not recognizing the sound, I think
Maybe the man has come to check the meter,
Or maybe a nerighbor is raking leaves.
I approach the window;
All but two of the birds take wing.
One senses that he is alone and
Flies off to find the others,
Like a five year-old realizing he has been left
on a church play’s stage alone.
The other remains, not noticing me or my proximity,
Only the worms.
I am the first bird wanting to be the second.
26 february 2001–English 399
Paulelmo's Blog 
Is the focus the confidence that the second does not so easily be startled?
It’s not as much that the first bird is startled, but that he is a follower, not comfortable enough to stand on his own.