There are cranes warbling in the fen today

A sedge that sings dissonantly from one group to another

One, then two, until there are five

I’m sure there are more.

We forget our pace and time to listen.

Earlier, I pushed my way through pampas grass,

My face pulled into my shirt.

Mosquitoes find my ears, my arms, my forehead

Pelicans bob in the shallow water

And orioles grip the tops of cattails.

They look too big to fly.

For a moment, they stretch their throats in to the air

Their bills as high as my shoulders

Their red eyes watching me

And their cry, a ratcheting sound.

Three long movements on great wings

Take them to another place

The sun catches their backs before they fall

Behind the cottonwoods and poplars

Along the edge of an autumn river