Lying in bed one morning, the speaker watches two green barbets visit a papaya tree and start eating the ripe fruit. He laments, half joking, that he had hoped to pick those papayas himself. Then a woodpecker drops in, and the barbets seem awed by its red crest and sharp beak. The speaker is amused by how oddly it perches. One barbet hurries off, while the other sidesteps the newcomer and watches, head cocked, just as the speaker watches from his bed. When the woodpecker has eaten its fill and leaves, the remaining barbet gets what is left.
The mood is gentle, curious and good-humored. The speaker loses his fruit but doesn't seem truly upset. He treats the birds as entertaining visitors, and he even seems to identify with the watchful barbet. The poem closes quietly, as he reaches for music, content with the promise of the day ahead.