Whitewater Draw, McNeal, Arizona
I come for the spectacle—
twenty thousand sandhill cranes
honking their hosannas
in exuberant profusion.
I view from afar
as they alight and crowd into position
standing shoulder to shoulder
in the shallow waters,
temporarily safe from
all that might harm them—
a migrant city of birds
flying forth each morning
to eke out their living in
surrounding fields of corn,
then returning to wait out
the dark in the safety
of their wet roost.
A small group emerges
from the nearby marsh grass,
much closer this time, as if
finally accepting my presence,
loafing at their ease, in casual
strides, sometimes jumping
and facing off in animated conversations
and flashes of red forehead.
They watch me as well,
fellow migrant species from the Pleistocene,
whose ancestors followed
the ebb and flow of ice sheets
as the oceans rose and fell.
Will the great birds still soar on high
through future skies in solemn witness
to the spectacle of my descendants
huddling shoulder to shoulder
in the rising waters
of a hungry sea?
This poem first appeared in the collection Shopping Cart Dreams (Kelsay Books).
—
Gene Twaronite is the author of five poetry collections. His first poetry book, Trash Picker on Mars, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. His latest poetry collection is Death at the Mall (Kelsay Books). Follow more of Gene’s writing at: genetwaronitepoet.com.
