Cycling, Recycling

As feathered forest creatures
of distinction, he is undeniably
the king of all he surveys
with no challengers for the crown
as nature's undisputed caretaker
surveying the forest canopy to
identify lost giants harbouring
infestations of boring beetles
whose survival and linked
perpetuation equates with the
climax of a tree's living days.
The chickadees, nuthatches and
vibrantly-hued cardinals and
bluejays are the adornments
of the forest landscape, charming
and invested with the grace notes
of enchanting melodies, in
contrast to the authority vested
in the loud, assertive call of the
pileated woodpecker, the species
that dominates the woods, 
feasts on burrowing beetle larvae 
maintaining the ecosystem's
checks and balances, enabling the
forest to thrive as saplings grow
replacing their venerable forbears.