Whooping Cranes

We stand upon the boat deck

Drifting slowly in the channel

At Aransas

Looking at the birds.

The captain tells us all the facts—

How many birds are here,

How many in the world this year.

They come in pairs or threesomes,

Having flown with mighty wings

Two thousand miles from Canada

To find one final sheltering place

Of all the coastal flats they once inhabited.

Oh, how lordly they do stand!

As tall as many men, regal, white,

Posing upon the marsh as if they still ruled here.

We know that they are fugitives,

Adrift precariously in the present world.

But as other royal refugees have done

They manage yet an air of majesty

Even in perilous times.

©2002 John I. Blair
Dec 2009 Publication in "Pencil Stubs Online"
http://www.pencilstubs.com