I’M the friendliest of them all,
    When winter comes;
Daily at your door I call
    Begging crumbs.
Clinging sideways to a stake,
Eloquent appeal I make.
“Spare a scrap for pity’s sake!
    This cold air numbs.”

I will follow as you dig
    And search the dirt.
Worms or beetles, small or big,
    Are my dessert;
And, should you seem gently kind,
From your hand I do not mind
Taking anything you find;
    But I’m a flirt.

For when spring comes to the land
    You are forgot.
I have great affairs on hand
    As days wax hot.
Should I pass you, I pretend
To ignore my winter’s friend;
Intimacy’s at an end;
    I know you not.

Yet, when winter comes once more,
    And summer ends,
You will find me at your door
    To make amends;
Clinging sideways to a stake,
Eloquent appeal I’ll make:
“Spare a scrap for pity’s sake!
    Aw, let’s be friends!”