Pigeons

Two pigeons, enormous compared with the mourning doves I was used to seeing in Bemidji, just landed in my back yard and began gulping down the kernels of corn Eric scattered for the squirrels. As they landed, they cast impressive shadows in the beam of sunlight bathing the kitchen wall. One white, one dark grey, both have necks wrapped with rainbows of tiny iridescent feathers. And I wonder: Do the world's most famously hated birds find solace in the fact that they're beautiful?