dogeeseseegod

Geese have been hiding lately. 50+ one day,

and 20 odd ducks waiting for pellets to float

near them. Now only a single one standing

on one leg holding up a withered webbed foot 

on the shady bank. No others in sight. 

Giant Canadian Geese who have chosen 

to relocate. To harbor and shelter full time 

in otherwise disagreeable Baltimore. 

And now regretting becoming expatriates. 

Not that flying home would be any better.

The truth is they have their ways and times,

are patterned and fickle as the tide. I walk 

where I have found them but am not dismayed 

when they’re not where they were yesterday. 

Or the day before. Some days I return with a bag 

full of feed. If I’m lucky and mindful, I’ll spot 

a snakebird, an anhinga, its black crested head 

slicked back from diving, the first crook of its 

S-curved neck above water, its head with stiletto beak 

and red eyes darting right and left before disappearing below.

Their body now a spear. Four webbed toes on each foot 

powering forwards for slow swimming fish. They might dive 

60 feet. And stay submerged for a long minute. The challenge 

is to widen your vision. Where they were and which way 

their small head was pointing, are useless as a compass. 

There are times when they don’t surface. Not today. 

Maybe tomorrow across the harbor. Standing on land

or on cables stretched across docks. Their wings spread 

like a 3 ½ foot cross. The wind and sun compatriots 

in drying feathers having no preen oil to repel water. 

A water bird without buoyancy. A devil bird who defies 

Darwin. Evil spirit of the woods normally found 

from South Carolina to Texas. Living large in Baltimore.