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Different birds symbolize several diverse things:

still, owls can shake souls even in their dwellings!

King, not you, no, just about ten centimeters long,

weighing somewhat 9 to 12 grams, there’s nix wrong.

Specialists state that the slenderest species of kingfisher

is the African dwarf kingfisher. We’re readier and richer!

You’re often seen as a symbol of plenty or prosperity.

Timing: your nesting in periods of rain boosts positivity.

Woodland kingfisher, are you a weather predictor?

With a beautiful red and black beak, you’re a victor.

Bird, your types are typically tropical in distribution,

and you’re fine and found in forests, silent or in action.

Around rivers or from your perch, you pounce on them: fish.

Nesting, when you discover invertebrates, to them you dash.

Did I not observe your kingly entrance into a tree-living termite nest?

You inhabit forests in Nigeria, Uganda, and the DRC and the rest, my best!

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Hailing from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, Ndaba Sibanda is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer who has a passion for themes and topics around conservation, nature, development and justice. A three-time Pushcart, National Arts Merit Awards, Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize and the Best of the Net Prose nominee, Sibanda`s book Notes, Themes, Things And Other Things: Confronting Controversies, Contradictions And Indoctrinations was considered for The 2019 Restless Book Prize for New Immigrant Writing in Nonfiction. Ndaba`s novel Cabinet Meetings: Of Big And Small Preys was considered for The Graywolf Press Africa Prize 2018. His five titles are on the Barnes and Noble list of 2024 Best books.