From the next issue of Et Puis News Magazine, which I will finish, at some point

I know pigeons are pests and over-populated and they are out to get me when I bicycle up the wrong way on a one-way street and once I saw one get hit by a car - it made a sound like a pudding cup exploding or like a water balloon hitting pavement and I thought I would be sick.

(And that's maybe the closest I've been to a death)

But at Bloor and Christie flocks of pigeons wheel and spin in the winter sky, which is every shade of grey, making perfect formations. And they line themselves up along the rooftops of tall buildings and

my tiny charge stops me
she says

"Just look at them for a minute here"

Paused to watch them, we miss our walk-light. Cars rush past us on their way to busy stores and offices. Then we miss the light again but she doesn't mind because then she gets to press the button again and again and the pigeons are always doing something new to look at just for a minute here

That's the best part of my days with her
having only
time to waste

and leaving trails of crumbs for the birds