Poem Fourteen: Crane
From mid-February through early April about a million sandhill cranes stage here, feeding in cornfields and wet meadows by day and roosting in the shallow flowing waters of the Platte River at night.
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Path, revelation
and embodiment.
We lose reflectivity
when sea ice melts.
Nesting cranes fly north
when winter recedes.
Peach trees begin to bud.
Compass, pathway home.
There is another world
inside this one.
We lose reflectivity
when the polar ice cap begins to melt.
More than 1 million sandhill cranes stop
along the central Platte River each spring.
Apple trees unfurl
flowering fragrances.
Having an enlightening revelation
is not the same as being enlightened.
When the ice melts, the earth
becomes darker and absorbs
more sunlight. We lose
reflectivity.
Sink back to a place
where all thoughts arise.
The sandhill crane
moves north at the onset of spring.
They loaf and lean in wetlands.
Stretching and standing on one or two legs.
Path, revelation,
and embodiment.
When the earth’s surface
becomes darker it leads to further warming.
Cranes upright or laying down.
Some turn their heads or tuck
them beneath a wing. Some stand
in a creek while they sleep.
Changes in sea ice lead
to extreme weather events.
Lilacs burst into leaf.
Some birds wander
or settle on the ground.
Should we pray
to the sun?
How large are you
in comparison
to the moon?
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