Parrots - Alison Macpherson

The colourful parrot sat in the corner of the lounge room in a small cage surrounded by pot plants. His days were long and the nights were a relief. Duing the day the parrot inhaled second hand smoke and had to put up with daytime TV shows like Days Of Our Lives, and The Young and the Restless. The parrot chewed on stale seeds from the bird feeder inside the cage and dreamed of flying through the blue skies.

The parrot’s owner walked about in her dressing gown all day with a permanent cigarette hanging from her mouth. She had a shower once a week but the nicotine on the inside of the top of her fingers remained. They were permanent.